Demons and Doubles
by Ash-Boss
Summary: (Blood Lad AU). Maka accidentally slips into the demon world where she's taken as hostage by vampire boss, Soul Eater. When Soul leaves her to take care of business, she's killed by an invading monster. Soul returns to find the murder scene and Maka's ghost, and promises to find a way to bring her back to life. M for violence, language, some sexual content. SoMa and slight TsuStar.
1. Chapter 1

Maka isn't sure if she had somehow knocked herself unconscious into this crazy dream or if someone had cursed her; all she knows is that she wants out of this situation. This isn't her bedroom, or even a bedroom at all; she's in the middle of a street in a city she doesn't recognize. The buildings are so high she can't even see the top of them with the sun blaring down on her. The buildings were taking its toll from the sun, bright paint now faded and wrecked. Some buildings have chunks of cement missing as if miniature bombs had gone off on the street. She is surrounded by at least thirty men, if she can even call them that; some of them have horns coming out of their heads, claws the size of her face, or more eyes than what a human should have. One of the creatures closer to her seems to be on the phone with the 'big guy'.

"Boss," a low voice comes from the tall, dark man whose head is covered in small braids apart from his shaven sides. He has a phone pressed to his ear and black square glasses sit on the bridge of his nose; Maka would have assumed that he was normal and human, but his large iron fists say otherwise. She stares hard at the meeting place where skin and metal blend together.

"We've got a situation," the man says, eyeing her up and down. Maka quickly bunches her jacket closer to her as he walks over until he is a foot or less from her, standing in silence. She wonders if his boss is yelling out orders of execution because he's quiet for an uncomfortable amount of time.

"There's… a chick here," the guy mumbles into the phone, and Maka looks down at her feet. _'I need to escape fast!'_ she thinks. However, the next sentence he says is "She's human," and Maka knows that she is, in fact, not surrounded by people, but monsters who could probably shred her apart in a minute.

Something the boss says makes the man in front of her try to dispute, his mouth opening wide and eyebrows creasing, but his mouth stays like that for an extra second before it closes and he puts his phone in his pocket.

Maka's body tenses as all of the 'men' cave in on her. The first pair of hands grab her waist, but Maka throws a back kick into the man's crotch and he falls on all fours, crying hysterically. _Guess they are just like men._

She stands with legs parted and hands raised, ready to chop anyone who lays their hands on her.

Maka would like to say she escaped from the clutches of men with brute force, but to be honest, thirty monsters against one girl are bad odds. Now, she's being led to the boss of these monsters, hands tied behind her and lips taped shut.

The man who was on the phone earlier stops Maka in front of a plain, white apartment door. He knocks roughly against the worn-down wood and ignores the plea to wait from the other side as he opens the door. What she sees makes her want to laugh. If only she could.

The first thing Maka notices is his stark white hair that's defying the laws of gravity under a black headband. He has a pair of black shades on and is wearing what Maka guesses to be a basketball jersey, but the jersey reads Death City Reapers, a team she's never heard of in her life. His pants are a little too big for him, the jeans scrunching together at his sandal-clad feet.

She watches as he inspects her, wondering what the man wants with her, a girl in a red plaid skirt, yellow sweater shirt, and a black jacket, her hair in perfect pigtails. _His type is probably the kind that wears short shorts and tube tops_, she thinks. The boy coughs awkwardly, and Maka is sure that she isn't what he was expecting. He's laughing at her!

"Kilik, close the door behind you," the boy says and Maka shivers. His voice is lower than she thought it would be, and if these guys call him the boss, she doesn't want to learn why. There's a moment of silence and Maka wonders why this Kilik guy hesitates before nodding and leaving her there on her own. He closes the door and Maka mentally swears when she hears the door lock with a _click_.

Her eyes quickly dart at her surroundings, trying to find ways of getting out of there. However, her attention quickly moves to the man who's getting closer to her. She steps back into the door, hands twisting at the knob. _Yep, it's locked._

Her eyebrows furrow, but he quickly raises his hands in the air. "I'm just trying to untie you."

She's not sure if she believes him, but with the door locked and her arms tied, she has no other choice than to stay still and wait for the man to release her. He presses his hand onto her cheek, and Maka notices how droopy his eyes are under the shades, like sleep isn't in his vocabulary. "This might sting a little."

Maka's eyes widen as she spots his jagged teeth before he quickly rips off the tape from her lips, making her hiss with pain. Hands grab her elbows and force her around to face the door before she is able to say anything. She feels her hands being tugged here and there before her arms fall limply to her sides, free.

She turns around to the man who's way too close for comfort. She's on the door again as he leans in, one arm above her holding him there and the other one in his jean pocket.

"Soul," he practically sings and Maka begins to wonder if the guy is high on something before he simply replies to her unsaid question. "That's my name. Soul Eater, at your service."

Maka stands there awhile more and Soul raises an eyebrow and widens an eye as if he is asking for something in return. She clears her throat and calmly gives her name. "Maka Albarn."

Soul draws back slightly. He expected a squeaky voice, not a hard, firm voice with no sign of fear. Part of him feels hurt that she doesn't see him as harmful.

Maka rubs at her arms where the tape had been. "Where am I?"

"You're in the demon world," Soul pushes off the door entirely and bounces down onto his mattress. "Now my question: how did you get here?"

Maka simply shrugs as she looks at the ground. Soul leans back on his arms and pats the area next to him. She walks over hesitantly and sits on the corner of the bed, farthest away from Soul.

"This is my first time meeting a human," Soul laughs awkwardly as he pushes the shades higher on the bridge of his nose. "I've always wanted to, but I'd need a passport, human money… and I heard the sun up there is really strong. Oh! Do you watch basketball?"

Maka turns on him and grimaces. "No."

Soul scratches his head and sighs. He has always wanted to meet a human because he likes their clothes, music, and TV shows a lot more than the things they have here; however, the human he ends up stuck with is a dud. She opens her mouth to ask a question, but a ring interrupts her. Soul puts up his index finger to her before digging through his pockets to take out his cellphone. He flips the phone open. "This is Soul. What's up?"

Maka sits quietly as she watches Soul's reaction. His brow furrows slightly and his jaw tightens, but the reaction isn't much different to what he's looked like these past few minutes she's seen him. "Well, get rid of him then," he mutters. "I'm busy here."

His brow creases further and his lips draw back as he grinds out his words. "What do you mean? The men can't do it?" Static is the only reply Soul receives.

"Hello? Kilik, I've lost you. You there?" No one answers and Soul curses as he closes his phone. "What were we talking about again?"

Soul turns to find Maka staring up at him. "That sounded urgent..."

"No, no. This happens all the time." Soul waves his hand in the air, brushing off her concern. "People always try to sneak in and kill me. Whoever kills a boss, becomes a boss. That's just how things work here."

"Shouldn't you still help your friends, though?" she says, and Soul gets an unexplained feeling in his stomach. Her eyes are sucking him in, entrancing him in a way. Suddenly, he feels his sight tunnel and sees a small blonde girl stare at him expectantly, blue eyes blurring from tears.

When he returns from his dream-like state, Soul bites his lip, feeling a need to protect her. Before Maka has a chance to notice, Soul cackles hysterically and she isn't sure she'll make it out of this alive. However, he pushes off the bed, gives her a thumbs-up, and shoots out the window.

Maka stares in horror at the flying glass and watches as his body plummets downward until she doesn't see him anymore. She quickly approaches where the large glass window used to be and watches as he falls down, down, and down.

Maka feels something is missing when she wakes up, not sure when she lost consciousness to start with. Her eyes slide open to a loud moan and she sees a monster and blood. Lots of blood. The monster is smeared in red from its coned nose to scissor-like hands and bulging chest, and the floor is worse, a rosy lake forming at its feet. She quickly pushes her body up from the bed and notices her clothes are no more. She feels her throat ache and she wants to scream. This has to be the worst day of her life.

She looks up to see the monster hasn't taken notice of her and is still eating. She suddenly spots her clothes, but they are on the flesh the beast is feeding from, dyed red. Maka's eyes widen with realization as she feels her stomach twist. Unexpectedly, she hears a loud yelp and finds Soul and Kilik rushing from the door towards the monster and looking into its hands.

"No, no, no!" Soul yells, pulling his white hair and Kilik pats his shoulder gently. Nose red and flaring, Soul tosses his sunglasses to the other side of the room before throwing a punch to the monster's stomach. The monster goes flying, its meal slipping from its hands as it careens out a bedroom wall. The room billows with dust from the impact and Maka tries hard not to choke on the air. The monster is limp in the corner, hole in its chest, and Soul kneels into the lake of blood and retrieves a skull.

Maka decides now is the best time to make herself known as she lets a soft, "Soul." Both of the boys turn their attention to her when Maka remembers her situation. She covers herself up with her hands as Kilik quickly turns away, but Soul's eyes, which Maka notes are a ruby red, continue to stare. She squeaks at the attention and his face reddens.

"Where are your clothes?!"

Maka finds a pillow close to her and throws it at Soul's face before pulling his bed sheets over her. "Stop staring, you pervert! Th-that _thing_ had them!"

Soul looks back down at the skull in his hand and spots Maka's uniform under his feet, soaking wet in blood. He pushes himself up off the floor and looks from the skull to Maka and back to the skull again. "I thought he ate you."

A cough comes from behind him, and Soul turns to Kilik. He frowns and points back towards Maka. "Sorry to say this, Soul, but he did."

Soul raises an eyebrow and opens his mouth to dispute, but something comes over him and he turns back to face Maka. He knew when he spotted her on the bed before that something had changed. He no longer feels that attachment to her, and now that he's looking at her, he spots the hitaikakushi, a small white triangular piece of cloth tied around her head.

"A ghost? Really?" Soul moans, pressing his hands to his face. "No wonder I feel no interest towards her!"

"Hey!" Maka yells irritably. She brushes off the comment and raises her hands, inspecting them warily. "You're saying I'm dead now?"

Kilik and Soul simply nod. Maka buries her face into her hands, feeling a sob sneak out of her mouth. Tears fall into her palms. Soul bites his lip as she continues to sulk on his bed, and he wonders what's gotten ahold of him when he sits on the bed, placing the skull beside him, and rubs her back.

The blonde looks up, staring into ruby eyes, and he feels something in his chest tighten. He smiles gently. "I'll bring you back to life. I promise."

As soon as he says it, Maka smiles wide and Soul falls into a trance once again. Blonde hair is swaying, blue eyes squinting, and a goofy smile is aimed towards him. When his vision returns to normal, he's greeted by Maka's waving hand in his face. This is the second time now getting these visions and it bothers Soul. There has to be something behind this, and he is going to figure out what that something is.

"How will you do that?" Kilik barks from behind them. Soul turns his attention to him, frowning as the man glares back in disbelief. Soul's never heard him so angry before. At least not towards him.

"I dunno, but we can start by figuring out how she got here." Soul looks down at the skull.

"I have a question," Maka states and waits for Soul's attention. He looks over and she smiles awkwardly. "Since I'm in 'the demon world,' what kind of demon are you?"

Soul smiles maliciously, sharp teeth coming into sight, and Maka feels that uneasy feeling in her stomach as if she already knew the answer. Red eyes stay on her as he responds, "I'm a vampire."


	2. Chapter 2

Maka looks down at the attire on the bed, cheeks burning. A large black t-shirt with a red ogre under the word 'Oni' printed on it, along with a pair of red checkered boxers were placed there by Soul before he ran out into the hallway. _Is this all?_

On the other side of the room, Soul leans his back against the door beside Kilik. It's quiet for a while, but Soul knows Kilik wants answers. The look he sent towards Soul earlier told him that.

"Why didn't you eat her before?" Kilik whispers. Soul winces at the sharpness in his partner's voice. He's not sure of the answer himself.

"There was a part of me that wanted to, but…" Soul pauses, recalling the visions he had earlier that day. "Something stopped me."

Kilik looks at Soul like he's going nuts. Soul sighs, scratching the back of his neck. "Forget it. We just need to figure out how to turn her back into a human again. We have her bones and soul so all we need is flesh, right?"

Kilik shrugs. "I don't know, man. Ghosts are rare these days, since humans can only turn into ghosts if they die here in the demon world—and humans hardly enter the demon world. Why are we doing this anyway? Just dump her."

"I can't," Soul groans. "It's weird. I just have this feeling that I should protect her—"

Kilik's eyes bug out and he opens his mouth to dispute, but Soul ignores him. "_And_ I feel responsible. That's that."

The door cracks open, and Soul stands tall before he can fall back. The entrance stays mostly shut, though, as Maka sticks her head out. "Can I get more clothes? This is embarrassing…"

"No," Soul replies as he pushes the door to Maka's displeasure. "Until your clothes dry, that's all you get."

Maka pouts and crosses her arms when he looks back at her. He waits for that rush or those visions of the girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, but the only thing he sees is Maka squirming under his gaze. Her eyebrows rise abruptly and mouth widens. Soul swears he can see a light bulb turn on above her head.

"Soul!" she yells. "I just remembered something about how I got here!"

Soul animatedly runs up to her and grabs her shoulders."Really?!"

She nods. Her fingers come together to form a rectangle as she remembers the strange entrance.

"It was shaped like this and the inside of it was dark, but had colors swirling on the surface—kind of like a bubble."

For a moment, Maka thinks she has possibly broken Soul because he's quiet and as still as a statue until he finally lets go of her shoulders. "Does it have a curtain?"

Maka nods her head slowly, recalling the black sheet of cloth blowing from non-existent wind.

"Well, damn," Soul smiles crookedly, his hand scratching at his cheek. "You hear that, Kilik? We've found a black curtain."

Kilik, who had been silent and still this whole time at the doorway, walks in with his hands in his pockets and hums in reply. Maka wonders if maybe he isn't much of a talker, and how it was possible that this man worked under the white-haired lazy ass in front of her. The man just nods, expression the same as it has been since he brought her to his boss.

"What's so special about a 'black curtain'?" Maka demands curiously.

"It's high class magic— very rare. Only high class demons can go through it." Soul smiles as he presses his thumb into his collarbone, proud to be one of those demons.

"Okay, well, thanks for the help."

Maka turns toward the door, ready to leave this nightmare, but a hand grasps hers, keeping her in place.

"W-wait! There's no way you can go through there! You're a ghost— the weakest and lowest class demon."

Maka spins around to face Soul, giving him the nasty eye for looking down on her.

"Also, we don't know where you'd end up. Black curtain users make a destination specifically for them to go from the demon world to the human world."

Maka looks at the ground deep in thought as Soul lets go of her hand. "So... It'll be the same place I entered from?"

"Yeah."

"Then I should be fine," Maka smiles as she turns for the exit again.

Going through the black curtain's door reminds Maka of putting her finger through a bowl of pudding- something she used to do a lot when she was younger and didn't care about the gooey feeling. However, that feeling is no longer something Maka cared for. Yet, here she is putting her body through this pudding textured screen. Half of her body is already on the other side, bare foot catching the soft rug on her bedroom floor. She dips her head in slowly, holding her breath in puffed out cheeks and squinting her eyes shut.

When she feels the air around her again, she opens her eyes and plant both of her feet on lime green carpet. The room looks just how she left it: a twin bed stands in the far corner of the room next to a brown desk. Above her bed and desk is a built in book shelf full of all kinds of books. Her closet is on the opposite side next to the door.

Maka feels a presence behind her and hears feet plop onto the floor.

"This is your room?"

Turning around, Maka spots the disappointment in his eyes- what did he expect?- as he scans the room, lip twisted south.

"Yeah," she whispers to herself as Soul sits on top of her bed, giving it a bounce before grimacing at the sound of springs creaking. He turns and looks at her as if he has lemons in his mouth. Maka shrugs off the look as she goes to her closet for something to wear.

"What's wrong with my clothes?" Soul murmurs quietly, but Maka catches what is said and coughs.

"I'm wearing a t-shirt that's too big and some boy's underwear. I'm not going out like this." Behind her, Soul crosses his arms as she pushes outfit after outfit to the side. "Why are you here? I said I'll be fine."

He pushes off the bed, grimacing at the harshness in the girl's tone. "You couldn't go through the black curtain without me, Casper. Remember?"

Honestly, Soul thought the blond would have asked questions by now. Surely she doesn't just accept the fact that he's a vampire and that she is now a ghost, did she? Not that he knows much about ghosts in the first place, but weren't they supposed to disappear in the human world?

However, he's still able to see her as she pulls out a replica of the uniform she wore earlier and looks over at him expectantly.

"Can you turn around at least?" Maka mutters.

He does an about face, tapping his finger against his thigh as clothes shuffle behind him. Five minutes later, she taps his shoulder wearing her yellow sweater vest and plaid skirt, and they head to her bedroom door. Maka stops in front of it and takes a peek out.

"Okay," Maka whispers over her shoulder, Soul slouching behind her, rolling his eyes with his hands in his jean pockets. "My dad shouldn't be home just yet. So we should be- what are you doing?"

Soul pulls at her waist and places her behind him before he casually strolls out of the room. Maka opens her mouth, ready to scream and throw one of her books towards him, but she only silently mumbles about punching him when they aren't trying to sneak around her house.

"Let's get out of this jail cell of a room already," he says as he begins to descend down the stairs. The blonde mumbles angrily with pursed lips as she walks ahead of Soul. However, a squeak of a wooden door from behind her stops her in her tracks.

"Maka?"

The blond gasps when she recognizes the bewilderment of her father's voice. She turns her body as Soul walks past her and she spots angry red hair at the top of the stairs opposite from her room. She opens her mouth, ready to explain a false yesterday, but her father beats her to the punch as he scurries down the stairs.

"Maka! Where have you been?" Spirit Albarn whimpers, wrapping his arms around his daughter securely. As he continues to hold his daughter, he rises to his original height and glowers at the stranger of the house.

"Who the hell are you?" Spirit scowls then looks down at his daughter, letting go of his grip around her. "Maka, no one knew where you were yesterday, and you finally come home, but with a boy? Did he drug you? Is he keeping something of yours as blackmail?"

Spirits voice rises with each question as he turns towards Soul. Maka's sure her father is about to do something reckless and stupid, but she hears a _sppsh _and the room becomes quiet. She looks past her father towards Soul who just stares lazily at Spirit, a spray bottle aimed at him. Surely, her father isn't backing down just because there's a spray bottle in his face, right?

"Welcome home, Soul," Spirit smiles, and Maka's jaw drops.

"What did you do to my dad?" she squeaks exasperatedly, but Soul only shrugs.

"Vampires can control those they've bitten. The secret is behind the teeth." He pulls at his lip to expose the sharp teeth hiding underneath. Maka's stomach turns. "The saliva stored in my teeth make this happen. So, if I were to extract my saliva and place it in water to make it into a spray, I can control humans easier."

He sprays Maka then and she shrieks as she shuts her eyes. She waits for her body to act on its own, but nothing happens.

"It has no effect on demons, don't worry."

As Maka writhes and swipes the liquid off her face in disgust, Soul wanders the house until he finds the front door. "See ya later, old man."

Maka looks back at her father as she rushes behind Soul. Spirit only smiles and waves as the two leave the house.

"So this is the human sunlight…"

Maka looks behind her and spots Soul slowing following with sweat running off his skin.

She laughs silently, realizing he still has on the black basketball jersey and baggy pants from the day before. The clothes look heavy, and the fact that they're dark just means he's getting more attention from the sun. His sunglasses are back on, and Maka wonders if it's because of his eye color or because the human world looks too bright for a vampire. "Aren't you supposed to stay out of the sunlight?" she mocks.

"My skin feels extremely hot, but I should be fine for our stay here," he growls back, but he's not sure if he believes that himself. "I can adjust, but only with some minor complications…"

"So that thing you did back there… you can control anyone with just spraying that stuff?"

Soul sighs. "No. The mind control thing lasts only for a few seconds. It's not really mind control, actually. When I spray someone, I can plant this idea, and when the effects wear off they continue to believe it."

Maka blinks and her jaw drops in awe. "That sounds really cool. So what did you plant in Papa's head? He hates boys…"

The smirk Soul wears creates a shiver to travel down her spine. He only shrugs at her paling face. "Didn't do much. Just made him believe that I'm the coolest guy he knows."

She looks forward, but not before giving him a worrying glance which he brushes off with a sigh. "So where are we going?"

Soul watches as Maka's face goes from slight worry to 'it's-Christmas-morning' happy. "To my school," Maka cheers.

"_What? Why?_" Soul scoffs and stills on the sidewalk.

Maka turns, walking backwards slowly, with her hands behind her. "I need to get my school assignments from yesterday and for the rest of the week."

"You're such a fuckin' nerd," Soul mutters to her turning form as he catches up with her. Either the blonde hadn't heard him or she brushed his comment off as she pushes silently forward.

"Hey," he prods, "where's your mom? It would've been troublesome if she was there and I didn't spray her."

She slows her pace on the sidewalk and Soul turns his head to raise a brow at her. She coughs to get rid of the lump forming in her throat. "I don't know."

She really didn't. She hadn't seen her mother since she was six. Whenever she brought it up to her dad, he would only shake his head and change the subject.

Soul scratches his neck in awkwardness, and the two fall in silence until they reach black gates and a large white building.

Going back to school feels weird for Maka even though she has only been absent for a day. She thinks maybe everything that has happened to her before was possibly a dream, but she receives a reminder every few minutes that it had been indeed real whenever she spots chalk colored hair and a slouching form strolling through the halls.

"_I'll go ahead and spray people as they come in. You just carry on like normal," _Maka remembers him saying when she walked in. Since then, because of the spray, the students and teachers all started treating them as if they were regular students. She didn't bring any of her textbooks to school so she sits at her desk all day thinking about everything that had happened since yesterday. Fingers trace the white triangular cloth that is wrapped around her head. _Can anyone else see this?_

"Maka, psst!" The blonde turns to the seat next to her. She spots her friend, Kim, beaming at her, Jacqueline waving from behind Kim's pastel hair. Maka's hand drops from her forehead. When she looks around, she notices it's just the three of them now, and the hallways slowly clear of people.

"Want to go to that one candy shop you pointed out yesterday?" Kim blurts. Suddenly, Maka's chest tightens and something forces her throat to clog. She wasn't here yesterday—she doesn't know what shop Kim is talking about. _That wasn't me_, she thinks, biting her lip, shaking her head at the girls.

"Awe, okay." Kim stands and grabs her backpack, Jacqueline following suite, "maybe tomorrow then."

The two girls leave, and Maka sinks forward, hiding her face against the desk. Her friends are creating another her in their minds. They're leaving behind the real her, the one that was now a ghost—a demon. _Does it even matter if I'm around or not?_

Soul finds her in the desk she's been sitting at all day, head down in crossed arms against the wood surface. For a moment, he thinks she's asleep, but he sees her back quake and knows otherwise.

"Havin' fun?" He teases as he sits on the back rest of the chair in front of her desk. She looks up and Soul winces. "Why are you crying?"

"Why'd you have to do that?" She sniffs angrily at him. She wipes her sleeve under her nose and eyes, but she's back to sniveling again when he only scrunches his brow together. "First my dad and then everyone else. I'm sure if we had explained it to them, they would have understood, but you screwed things up—!"

Soul's hands slam down on the desk and he leans in. Maka realizes he's lost his glasses because she's staring into his wide bloody red eyes. His lips thin and biceps flex. "Explain what exactly? What would they understand?"

Maka's head drops, eyes focused on the backs of Soul's hands and her lip quivers. Soul's voice only increases in volume.

"'I accidentally went to the demon world, died, and became a ghost, but everyone please treat me like nothing's happened'? Were you going to say something like that?" he snaps, but she continues to say nothing. "You're too naïve. You're a demon now. Just accept that."

"Okay, but there was no need to involve other people just to make me understand this," she scowls. "Just change them back. Please!"

Sobs fill the room, and Soul sits on the top of the chair in front of her desk, palms sliding off the wood surface. His frown deepens as she watches him behind cloudy eyes. "If it's the same when I'm not around, why not just let me disappear like this?"

His jaw clamps as he stares at the floor. He turns his back to her and walks slowly away mumbling, "If that's what you want then I guess you'll be gone soon."

"Huh?" Maka pouts. Soul turns his head and sizes her up.

"Your body," he points, and Maka looks down. She raises her arms, but can't see her hands at all, her wrists fading into nothing. Her feet and legs are also missing up to the end of her skirt.

"What's going on?" she shrieks. Her body feels numb, the only feeling coming from her chest and face.

"You still don't get it, do ya, Casper?" Soul walks back toward her and leans on the desk until they're at eye level with one another. He no longer looks angry, but serious. "Demons have to have a certain degree of 'rootedness' to survive in the human world. It's hard for low-level demons like you to obtain that." He pushes off the desk. "Didn't you want to disappear?"

Maka waves what's left of her arms in the air in alarm. "I wasn't being serious!"

"So you don't really want to disappear?" Soul's face softens to a neutral as he stares back at her. She swiftly nods. He raises his hand to his lips and sticks his thumb into his mouth. His finger comes out bloody and punctured after biting down on the skin. "Good… I wasn't trying to be mean."

Blood drips on the floor and Maka grimaces. "Your body won't survive here so continuing your normal life isn't possible at the moment."

Soul pushes his thumb in front of her and blood spills down into his palm. "Until you are resurrected, spraying them is best. You can immediately come back, and no one will know that you died."

Maka stares wide-eyed at the boy. She had mistaken what his intentions were. All this time, he was only trying to help her.

"Lick it."

She blinks and tries her best not to gag. "What?"

"You don't want to vanish right?"

"No, but you're bleeding."

"I did this for you, idiot," he deadpans.

"Why?"

"Just hurry up if you want to continue to exist," he growls. Maka examines his thumb and unintentionally licks her lips. Pressing her body forward, her lips hover over his finger before clamping down. Her tongue presses into his wound before sucking, her cheeks dusting pink. "Before I bring you back to life, I'll be your blood host."

Heat runs through Maka's body, and she can't help but enjoy the blood despite herself. She wonders if this is what getting drunk is like when she finally lets go of his finger. He pulls it out and examines his thumb, no blood to be found. Looking back at Maka, he frowns at the blush and half lidded eyes watching him.

"How is it?" he asks, examining her body. Her body is full, hands and feet back to being visible; it shakes with each inhale and exhale of breath. He's actually surprised it worked. He heard before that exchanging of blood could help demons restore their energy.

"My body feels warm, and I'm kind of dizzy," she breathes. She raises her hands to press against her cheeks, but pauses when she realizes her body is back to normal. She smiles. "My hands."

Maka falls harshly against the desk, hands lying on both sides next to her face. "My face is too hot, but the desk is cool."

He scratches the back of his neck, lips flat. _Guess the magic in my blood was too strong for her. _"Stay here for a bit then."

Soul walks out of the room, but not before looking back to make sure Maka stays put. Her eyes are closed as her breathing slows. He walks down the hallway. _I can't believe the crap I said back there. What's wrong with me? Am I just going to let her go back to the human world after she's resurrected?_ He shakes his head. _No way. I'll drain all of her blood until she's dry._

Two girls rush past him, giggling, and he watches them as they go down the hallway and descend the stairs. _That's strange. I'm surrounded by humans, but I haven't felt that urge like I did with her. _His nose twitches, and a smirk crawls onto his face. _Seems like she's special._

Suddenly, a pain shoots through his chest and his eyes see white. He falls against a locker, clutching his shirt, gasping for air until the pain fades and his vision is back to normal. _Augh, better resurrect her soon before I'm the one who dries out._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sweat covers Soul's face as they walk back to Maka's house. The sidewalk is pretty clear of people, most taking to their cars. The girl pouts behind him, humming madly with each step they take. "What do you mean we're going back to the demon world? I'm all better."

"You are, but I'm not." After Soul's little heart attack back at the school, he returned to the classroom to the wide awake and cheery blonde. Once he told her that they were going back, that good mood went down the drain. "I need to replenish."

"You can't do that here? Like suck someone's blood?" Maka chomps her teeth loudly, and Soul glares down at the blonde. _Is she a nine year old?_

"I could, but it's too much of a hassle," he sighs and continues before she can say anything else. "In the demon world, the air provides this energy for the demons so they can survive there, but that energy doesn't exist here.

"I'll drain just like you, but it's a little different." Maka takes out her keys. Soul looks up to see they had made it back to her house. "If I wanted to stay, I could gain energy off of human blood, but it isn't a necessity…"

As she opens her front door, his voice fades to silence, thinking she isn't paying attention to a thing he's saying anyways. However, after the two are inside and she closes the door behind them, her eyes widen and Soul swears he can see the girl's head grow. He winces, mumbling out a, "freakin' bookworm ghost," as he follows her up the stairs, no father in sight.

"That's cool, I guess," she giggles, "that you don't have to suck blood every day I mean." She swings her room's door open. "It makes it harder for people to recognize you as a v— who are you?!" she squeaks at a woman sitting on her comforter.

The stranger has long black hair being held in a high ponytail, and wide dark blue eyes that Maka would replace with her own in a heartbeat. A white tank top with stitches down the middle cling to her curves perfectly over a pair of blue jean shorts. Maka twitches at the black scarf wrapped securely around her neck. It was ninety-five degrees out and this trespasser is wearing a thick scarf like she's inside a freezer.

"Tsubaki?!" Maka turns to Soul, eyebrows rising. If he recognizes her, she must be a demon… but she looks human! Soul scowls as Tsubaki smiles at him as if they had seen each other just yesterday.

"Ah, Soul!" she beams. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Tsubaki?" Maka questions, letting the name slide down her tongue as she prods at Soul's side in question. Soul grabs her index finger after the eighth poke.

"She's a childhood friend. Haven't seen her in a while though." He turns his attention back to Tsubaki with a frown. "What are you doing here?"

Maka thinks the girl doesn't notice his harshness as she continues to smile at him. "I was picking up stuff for BlackStar, but someone moved my black curtain which should be totally impossible. Yet here it is and-"

"Wait, _you_ created the black curtain?" Soul coughs. His eyes are wild, and his teeth glisten under the light. If Maka didn't know better, she would have ran from someone like Soul if she had ever bumped into him in the streets. Tsubaki simply nods.

"How careless can you be?" he spits. "_This_," he throws his index finger to Maka, "is all your fault."

Tsubaki giggles, but her eyebrows slant in sadness for the girl. How rude of Soul to talk about a girl like that. "Who's she?"

"I'm Maka," the blonde throws out her hand, ignoring Soul's comment, and the tall girl shakes it. "Tsubaki."

Soul coughs to get the girls' attention. "She lives here, but you opened the black curtain, she fell in, and got eaten in the demon world. So now she's a ghost because of your carelessness."

Tsubaki gapes in horror, before rushing in to hug Maka. "I'm so sorry!"

A gasp escapes Maka as honeysuckle and lemon enters her nostrils and into her lungs, reminding her of her mother's garden when it rained. She leans into the smell, closing her eyes and letting it take over her. Tsubaki lets her go, and the smell vanishes with her departing form.

"Now I'm trying to resurrect her," Soul says warily, staring at the blonde in worry. Her eyes are downcast and lips are parted, but she's quiet.

Maka shakes the blurriness from her eyes and sighs. She needs to get over this. She _did_ get over it. So why was her mom always coming to her mind now?

"I think I came across a book once about human resurrection," Tsubaki hums, her index finger laying on her bottom lip as she looks up at the ceiling in thought. Soul and Maka's heads shoot up and towards her with wide eyes. A smile creeps up Maka's face, and before she knows it, she's clinging to Tsubaki.

"Really? You did?" she squeaks excitedly.

"I _think_. If I did then it's at the library in the East district." Maka lets go of her grasp on Tsubaki and raises a brow. She looks back to Soul, wondering if he knows where that is, if it was somewhere they could go now, if she could be resurrected today. However, Soul becomes pale and his eyes screw shut as if he was in pain.

"What's wrong, Soul?" Maka walks up to him, concern wrinkling her face. He opens his eyes and scratches his head. He glances at Maka for a moment before turning to the black curtain.

"Nothing," he murmurs under his breath. "Let's get this done and over with. I'm gonna have to see him eventually."

The three had returned to the demon world, and now they stand on a dirt road at the edge of the city, Soul dialing a number on his phone. As he presses the phone to his ear, Maka watches how he scans the space in front of him. His eyes seem droopy and dead, but something about them earlier when they were at her school interested her. His mouth begins to move, replying to whoever it is he's talking to, giving an address Maka assumes.

"You must really like him," Tsubaki whispers, and Maka jumps with a squeak. The taller girl laughs at this which causes Soul to glare at the two before returning to his conversation on the phone. Heat radiates off Maka's ears and cheeks as she whines, "What do you mean by that?"

Tsubaki looks over towards Soul. "He's usually really hard to get along with. Yet, you're still here."

Maka kicks a rock from beneath her, lips protruding out in frustration. It isn't like she has a choice. She's dead. She wouldn't last one day in the human world, and Soul had offered her a way back to normalcy. "He promised to bring me back to life, that's all."

Soul folds his phone closed and turns toward the two. Maka runs her fingers through her hair and feels her ears, making sure they aren't hot anymore.

"What are we waiting for?" Maka asks, dropping her hand to her side.

"A taxi," Soul replies as he sweeps the hair in his face away. Maka's eyes widen in awe.

"A taxi? They have those here too?" Tsubaki covers her mouth to keep from laughing and Soul can't help but smirk as well.

"Yeah, it should be here shortly," he smiles and Maka stares until a rumbling is heard. The trio look to their left where dust begins to gather and get closer to them.

Suddenly, the dust hits them straight on, their vision covered, and a _clank_ is heard. When the air clears, Maka spots two large chickens. However, their bodies are human-like, bare muscle shining under the sun and black pants holding loosely at their hips. They hold onto wooden beams attached to a metal box on wheels as their ponytailed hair swishes in the wind.

"Traveling wherever you want, Chicken Brothers Transport System!" the two cluck. Maka may have been intimidated by them at first, but their voices are too high to take them seriously anymore. Soul hands them wads of money, and the two chickens start counting.

After fifteen long seconds pass, the chicken men continue to count and Maka nudges Soul's arm, tilting her head to the metal box. "We're traveling in that? Why not use Tsubaki's portals?"

"Traveling in this, with the demon world's fastest legs carrying us, less people will notice us since no one can see inside the box." The birds nod, and Soul climbs into the metal box. Maka follows after with Tsubaki behind her. The seats are red plush and once Maka settles next to Soul, she wants to lay on the cushion forever. "Plus, Tsubaki can only travel a certain distance right now. If we went with the portals, we would only be able to pass one or two territories."

"I'm assuming it would be bad news if someone realizes that the West boss leader was in the East, away from his territory," Tsubaki adds. Once she's seated next to Maka, the 'drivers' nod. The cart jolts forward and speeds away at a miraculous rate.

"Their speed is a flaw though," Soul winces as the cart runs over something large, sending the transportation high into the air before crashing back down onto the road.

"I feel like I'm going to puke," Maka gags, one hand over her mouth and another on her stomach. Soul scoots as far as he can away from her, and Tsubaki squeezes the blonde's knee.

"Because of how fast we're going," Soul flinches as Maka slams into him, Tsubaki pressing against Maka, "we've already passed three other bosses' territories."

Tsubaki pushes closer to the wall so the blonde can move back to the middle, shaking her head in disapproval. "If other bosses find us, they'll assume you're trying to expand your territory."

As if on cue, the cart flies backwards and is split the middle by a blade. Maka's eyes widen as the blade gets closer and closer. She waits for the blade to cut her skin, but she only feels warm skin around her. Her eyelids snap open to look up from Soul's grasp around her— bridal style Maka thinks— and she blushes. Soul had managed to grab her and jump out of the carriage, and now he stares at the owner of the blade: a boy with blue hair that sticks out in every direction. His already large eyes widen as he takes in the two.

Yo," Soul's eye twitches as his brows lower.

Suddenly, Maka meets the floor, Soul dropping her to walk towards the new target. Soul pushes his fist forward, and the other boy copies the move. Their hands open to clasp against each other's in a high five.

"Long time no see, Soul! Have you come to worship your God, the almighty BlackStar?!" the boy cackles. "Sorry about the carriage, by the way."

"It's cool. We were coming up to see you anyhow." Soul smirks, showing off his razor teeth as he shook his head. Maka gapes as she rubs her bum. _They know each other?_ "We're looking for the Book of Human Resurrection."

"Pfft. Tsubaki can show you where that crap is. Why would I read something like that?"

Maka snaps her head left and right until she spots the tall woman. She's sitting next to the ruined carriage on the road, safe.

"True," Soul laughs. Tsubaki walks towards the three, giving her hand out to Maka. She takes Tsubaki's hand and gets up.

"Tsubaki, you didn't tell me you were bringing Soul. Wouldn't have cut the carriage up if you did." The boy cackles, hands on his hips and head facing the sun. With Maka on her feet, she realizes he's shorter than her.

"Sorry, BlackStar. I just ran into them. Should we head to the base?"

BlackStar nods and begins to lead the way to his place.

"So who's she? A new follower?" He throws a thumb behind him, but continues his journey forward. His voice seems serious, but his laugh after speaking makes Maka think otherwise; her eye twitches at the volume of his voice, and she feels this urgency to shut him up. However, Tsubaki chimes in, her voice calming to Maka's nerves.

"This is Maka."

"She died so we're trying to bring her back to life," Soul speaks flatly, seeming tired of always answering the same questions. BlackStar turns his head to look back at the blonde as he continues to walk. After a while, his attention moves to Soul and he lifts a thin brow.

"Yeah, okay," BlackStar speaks softly for once, turning his head back to the road. "Why you would want to bring her back isn't my business…"

They walk for miles, going through busy street markets and empty alleys until they come up to a small, square building, the rest of the road empty besides the dirt ground. Maka quietly catches Soul's attention before quickly glancing at the small building and back.

"It's Star's place." He shrugs off Maka's jaw dropping and walks inside behind BlackStar and Tsubaki. Maka rushes in when Soul waits at the door for her. The building is one room aside from a sliding door hiding a bathroom Maka assumes. To her right, a stove oven sits in the middle of a wooden counter, microwave sitting on top and refrigerator taking the space in the left corner. Few white cabinets decorate the wall. Small brown cushions scatter around a low table— a Japanese style table in the demon world? On the left wall, a queen bed sits with a mess of blankets scattered over it, and a small TV hides in the corner.

"BlackStar, I just cleaned this place before leaving," Tsubaki sighs as she pinches an empty bag of chips from under one of the pillows. He only laughs in response, waving his hand at Tsubaki.

"Where's the book?" Soul asks, but BlackStar shrugs. Tsubaki throws the chip bag into a trash can and waves for them to follow her to the table, telling them to sit. Soul grunts, but obeys and Maka sits in the cushion next to him.

"Drinks?" Tsubaki offers.

BlackStar is the first to speak. "A beer."

Soul lifts two fingers to her as his response. Tsubaki looks to Maka.

"Uh... Tea?" _Did demons have tea?_

Tsubaki goes to the fridge and pulls out two cans of beers, placing them on the counter as she searches through the cabinets. "I have Jasmine, Raspberry, Peppermint, and Cinnamon Apple."

"I'll take peppermint," Maka says, and the room becomes silent except for the humming and liquid spilling into a cup coming from Tsubaki. She sits Maka's cup in front of her before going back to the counter and bringing back the boys' drinks.

"I'll go grab the book," Tsubaki smiles. She always does it seems. She leaves the building and BlackStar takes a swish of beer.

"So what have you been up to?" BlackStar smiles maniac-like. "I heard you've taken over the territories in the West."

"Yeah," Soul smirks. "And I've got a hell of a lot better place than this."

The two laugh and Maka sips her tea in awkward silence. Soul points an index finger at her. "She just dropped into my territory from your girl's portal-"

Maka almost spits her tea out, but she gulps it down harshly instead, choking a little. "YOU AND TSUBAKI?"

BlackStar glares at her with an unspoken _duh_ across his face before Soul continues. "She can't go back to the human world in her condition so I'm stuck as her babysitter."

Maka splutters again and shoots a dark look in his direction. "_Excuse_ you. Last time I checked, you _wanted_ to bring me back. I never said you had to watch over me or anything."

BlackStar cackles and pats Soul's back hard. "I see why you keep her!"

He continues to laugh and doesn't explain what he means by that comment which irritates her. Tsubaki comes in shortly after, carrying a large black book under her arm. She places it as gently as she can on the table between Soul and Maka, but it still thumps loudly against the wood.

Before Maka can reveal what's inside the book, Soul's hand slips into the cover first. He pulls the cover page closer to him and he scans the pages. They flutter across his eyes, one stopping every now and then for Soul to nod at. Maka peeks over to gain information herself; however, Soul's quick to move his arm up to block her view. She growls.

"Yeah, I don't get any of this," he groans and pushes it towards BlackStar who just pushes it to Tsubaki. The tall girl opens the book and frowns.

Maka takes this chance to lean over the table to look at the words. "What language is that suppose to be?"

Soul shrugs. "Who knows. Guess you're stuck like that, Casper."

Maka takes the book into her hands and whacks him square in the head with it. Tsubaki waves at the two for them to stop. "We might not be able to read it, but whoever wrote this should be able to translate for us."

Everyone nods as Tsubaki goes to the first page where the author's name is scribbled on. Everyone leans in to decipher the scribbled name. Soul slams his head against the table and everyone blinks at him besides BlackStar, who is laughing once again.

"It's not funny," Soul hisses and BlackStar calms to a slight giggle.

"What's not funny?" Maka questions as Soul sits back up and places a hand against his temple. "The author. It's Lord Death."

"See?" BlackStar cracks a smile. "Isn't it funny that Death himself wrote how to resurrect someone? You know, from the dead?"

Tsubaki gives him a small smile as he continues to laugh. Maka cracks at the joke as well. She looks over to Soul wondering why it was such a bad thing that this Death person wrote the book.

BlackStar turns toward Soul. "This is good! You can just go ask him and we should be golden."

Soul smacks the back of his head and the boy hisses. "No, I can't, you dummy. Death lives in Death City. That's off limits to us."

"To _us_," he argues, "but not to you."

Soul sighs, placing a hand into his white hair. "It is now. I can't return, and I wouldn't want to anyway."

Maka scoots over towards Tsubaki as the boys continue to argue. She bumps her elbow lightly against hers before leaning towards her. "What are they talking about?"

"Death City is a palace for only the strongest of demons. Soul's family is there- it's where he was raised." Tsubaki continues to whisper to her, and Maka unconsciously opens her mouth in awe of this new information. "But, Soul left Death city years ago, and because he was only there due to his parents' strength, he can't return unless it's from his own strength."

Maka frowns at the thought of Soul not being able to return to his family. How long had it been since Soul saw them? The boys silently drink their beers as they think, and Tsubaki's smile vanishes.

"We... don't have to do this," Maka murmurs quietly. The three others look up at her. "Bring me back to life, I mean."

Soul sits his head in the palm of his hand, resting his elbow against the table. "No, I promised."

BlackStar grabs Soul's jersey and yanks him up. He rushes away with Soul cursing behind him until they're outside the house.

"What are you doing, man?" BlackStar spits as he pushes the other into the dirt. His nose is flaring as he glares down at Soul. "Why do you want to bring that girl back so much?"

Soul sits up, but doesn't stand. His hand brushes through his white hair as he looks down at his feet. He doesn't say anything so BlackStar continues with more questions.

"Are you going to drink her dry?" BlackStar whispers, and Soul cringes.

"Shut up," he spits. "That's none of your damn business."

"Hell yeah it is if you expect us to help you. If you're going to eat her at the end of all of this, you better be ready for Tsubaki because I'm sure she'll be upset."

Soul pushes himself off the dirt floor, sweeping of the soil in his lap and his back pockets. He only nods before turning back to the house. "Let's get a move on so Casper can return home then."

No one could come up with a way to read the book so they crowd around the small TV in the corner of the room. Buttery popcorn fills Maka's nostrils as they watch a basketball game- one from the demon world. The boys cheer and holler at the TV as the Death City Reapers score. Maka realizes the jersey Soul is wearing is from that team and she rolls her eyes.

"Do you not like basketball, Maka?" Tsubaki asks in a low voice. She's smiling like always beside her on the floor, BlackStar and Soul sitting in the bed behind them.

"I don't watch it or get it so no, not really," Maka shrugs. During PE, she was forced to play basketball all the time, but she always got a ball to the face or stomach. She never knew who to throw it to or where to go either.

Soul kicks Maka's back lightly. "You're missing out then."

They continue to watch as Maka wonders why they didn't just return to Soul's place. It was dark out now, and BlackStar only had one bed.

"Hey," BlackStar says, interrupting Maka's thoughts as the commercials play through. "You think Kid would be able to translate that book?"

Everyone looks over to him.

"Who's Kid?" Soul questions as he digs his hand into the popcorn bowl wedged between him and BlackStar.

"Lord Death's son."

"He has a son?" Soul says a little too loudly. His foot bumps into Maka's back hard. She glares at him.

"Yeah, I know him." BlackStar nods, stuffing his mouth with popcorn as the game comes back on. "Kid is allowed to come down here for research purposes, but he can also return to Death City whenever he likes too."

The bucket of popcorn spills in between the girls as Soul wrestles BlackStar on the bed.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Soul says angrily, and Maka fumes in her spot. Her face burns as she stands to glare at the two boneheads throwing punches. Her anger reaches its limits and she jumps into the fight.

"You idiots!" Maka yells on top of the two as she pulls on Soul from behind. "You spilled the popcorn!"

BlackStar takes this chance to punch Soul square in the jaw, sending him backwards, and Maka falls over the bed with him. Maka hits her head against the floor before Soul's head rams into her chin. "Ow..."

BlackStar stands on the bed, smirking over them. Tsubaki is standing as well, but she's scowling towards her boyfriend. "Was that really necessary?"

Soul apologizes as he gets off the floor and lends his hand to Maka.

"So, you know where this Kid is now?" Maka asks as she stands.

"He's up north a little ways from here," BlackStar hums. "We can travel with Tsubaki's portals tomorrow morning."

Maka nods and BlackStar grabs Tsubaki for a clean-up. The two retreat to the bathroom after explaining that Maka can borrow clothes from the taller girl and get in the bath after them.

Now, it's only her and Soul in the room, nothing to hear but the basketball game still playing on the TV. Soul sits back on the bed after flinging popcorn from his seat, leaning back on his arms. She sighs, grabs the bucket off the floor, and picks up the popcorn.

"What are you doing?" Soul mumbles, but still watches the TV. Maka stands up with the popcorn bowl in hand as she waits for his attention. He feels eyes on his neck and turns toward her.

"Picking up the popcorn you spilled all over the floor. You know, because we're at someone else's home?"

Soul's mouth forms an 'oh', and a few seconds later he gets up and starts collecting popcorn as well. "Usually, the owners of the house clean the messes that happen in their home."

"That's so rude," Maka scoffs. Reaching over for the last piece of popcorn, her hands brush with Soul's as he picks it up. Her head snaps up to his.

Soul is looking into Maka's green eyes when he feels dizzy and hot. Before he knows it, he's somewhere else. His vision clears and he's face to face with the girl with the blue eyes. Her blonde hair is creamier, close to white in the raining night, and her eyes are wide in horror.

"Soul," she whispers, and blood spills out of her mouth. She's lying on the floor, but it's too dark to see much else. Soul realizes he's under a bed when it creaks and the girl looks up. Tears fall down her face before the air escapes her and Soul sees... claws? A growl emanates from the owner of the claws and the girl shrieks. "Soul!"

He gasps as Maka's face comes to view, and he throws the popcorn into her bucket before moving to Tsubaki's previous spot on the floor. Sweat drips down the side of his face, but he watches the TV like nothing happened.

Maka blinks in confusion. What was that? One moment, Soul is staring at her with half-lidded eyes and an open mouth, and the next he jumps away. She stands slowly, puts the bowl on the table, and then sits on the edge of the bed. White hair is all she sees when Soul continues to watch the basketball game.

Falling on her back, Maka watches the TV absentmindedly until Soul clears his throat. "If you don't watch basketball, what do you usually do?"

Maka smiles at the question. Since she's become a demon, everything has been about making sure she was whole, keeping people from knowing she's dead, and now this book. It was nice to have a normal conversation for once, so she gladly replies. "I usually read a book or hang out with my friends at a cafe."

Kim and Jaqueline's faces enter Maka's mind and she wonders how they are doing. Soul laughs, "You really are a bookworm. How boring."

"Whatever," she sighs, too tired to argue with him as she rests her eyes. "Books are great."

Soul smirks. This girl is probably the most boring person he's ever met. Yet, somehow she is the most entertaining as well. No one's argued with him for years since he became boss. People were too scared of him now.

"I hear humans grow mushrooms on their heads if they read too much," he teased. When nothing but silence replies back, he looks over his shoulder. Blonde hair spills against the pillow, Maka's eyes closed and her chest rising slowly before dropping just as slow. He can't help the grin that spreads over his face as he crawls up next her.

Soul wakes to a screech in his ear and a pillow to the face. He sits up groggily, eyes still shut, as he hears Maka curse loudly and BlackStar laugh. He rubs the crusties in his eyes that had formed overnight as the smell of bacon enters his system. The bathroom door slams closed and he pats down his hair. "What's going on?"

Tsubaki giggles by the stove top and something pops. Soul assumes it's bacon grease. "She was just surprised with the sleeping arrangements is all."

Soul pulls the sheets away and stands. The night before comes to him slowly, but he doesn't see anything wrong with what had happened. So they slept in the same bed. Who cares! It wasn't like he touched her or anything. Jeesh, Casper had over-exaggerated like always.

He pulls his jeans up and goes to stand with Tsubaki. She's cooking bacon and eggs sunny-side up which makes Soul's mouth water. He looks around the small, one-room house for wild blue hair, but spots nothing of the sort. "Where's BlackStar? Wasn't he just here?"

Toast pops out of the toaster in front of him and he jumps. Tsubaki giggles as Soul tries to brush it off as nothing. "He ran out real quick. Said something about getting orange juice."

Maka walks out of the bathroom with wet hair and in the clothes Tsubaki had given her. They are cute clothes, but the dark gray long sleeve shirt was a size too big, and she had to wear a belt to hold up her jean shorts. She spots Soul and Tsubaki across the room at the stove and her ears burn.

She woke up earlier that morning a little too hot for comfort. Her nose had tickled and when she opened her eyes, white hair was the only hint she needed to know where she was. Strong arms had been wrapped around her waist, hot air hitting her collarbone. She'd screamed and pushed a pillow in Soul's face before rushing to the bathroom to cool down. How dare he cuddle with her!

Maka feels the need to shove a pillow down his throat when he looks over at her and smirks. That jerk! She stomps towards the two, ready to act on her anger. Before she can smack the stupid look on Soul's face, he grabs a plate of food and puts it between them.

He squeaks, "I come in peace!"

Maka's hand lowers and her anger simmers. She grabs the plate with a pout and thanks Tsubaki for the food before setting herself at the table. She waits until Soul and Tsubaki sit down to trace the egg yolk with her fork carefully. She chews the egg whites and sighs. She doesn't remember when her last meal was. Maybe not since she was a human? As she gathers the yolk carefully onto the center of her toast, Soul smirks. "What are you doing?"

Maka shoots a pointed look at him until the front door slams open with BlackStar standing proudly with a jug of orange juice at his side. Tsubaki flings a hand to her chest. "Death, BlackStar! You scared me."

"Sorry 'bout that," he blinks and makes himself a plate at the counter. Tsubaki gets up and returns with BlackStar at the table with four glasses and the orange juice. Maka takes a large chomp of her toast, the yolk exploding in her mouth over the bread and butter. She moans lowly, eyes closed as she enjoys the food. BlackStar smirks. "Hey, ghost girl. You having an orgasm or what?"

Tsubaki spits out her chewed toast, Maka chokes, and Soul cackles as he high fives BlackStar. The blue-haired boy stops laughing for a second only to throw more jokes around. "Soul didn't service you well last night?"

Suddenly, a squeak escapes BlackStar as Soul pounces on him. One of the boys hits the table with his feet as they wrestle around, and Maka watches Tsubaki close her eyes to calm herself. It doesn't seem to work because she stands suddenly and screams. "Will you boys _knock it off_?"

BlackStar pushes Soul off onto the ground and pats his clothes. He looks back at Soul and grasps his reaching hand, pulling him up. "Sorry, man. It was just a joke."

Soul nods, returning to his spot. He digs into his food, but not before giving a side glance Maka's way. Stupid blue dog making fun of his inexperience, and with Casper none the less!

Maka stabs at her bacon, trying hard to disappear. Maybe she could force herself to be invisible. Her cheeks still burn when she stands with her empty plate and goes to wash her dish. One by one, the others go to the sink, and Tsubaki offers to finish the dishes, but Maka likes the distraction and the feel of something familiar from the human world, even if it is something as small as doing the dishes.

Soul is the last to make his way to the sink. He hesitantly places it down on the counter next to her, and suddenly, Maka can feel his body heat. He isn't that close, but too close for comfort at the moment. Then, it vanishes and she exhales the breath she didn't know she was holding in.

"Hurry up, ghost girl!" BlackStar barks as Maka wipes her hands on a dry piece of cloth.

"It's _Maka_!"


	4. Chapter 4

Tsubaki's portals are different from the black curtain. When Tsubaki builds her portal, the other side isn't a dark mysterious hole, but an alleyway, and instead of a closet being the doorway, Tsubaki uses a group of poles forming a large rectangle. She holds it in front of them, and at the end of the alleyway, Maka spots large groups of people walking and stands behind the crowd.

"Didn't we want to be stealthy?" Maka asks as she sticks her head into the new scenery. A strong stench like the mix of fish and dirty wet socks invades Maka's nostrils, the complete opposite of the clean laundry smell from Tsubaki's and BlackStar's home. Soul pushes her butt all the way in the portal, and she squeaks as she trips over her feet, catching herself on the dirty wall.

"We'll be fine with this many people..." Soul ducks through, now wearing some fresh clothes. A black beanie holds back his clean white head. A loose cream tank top with a red pocket on his left breast hangs off him, a black leather jacket framing his sides, and Maka's eyes linger at the exposed skin below his collarbone. She gulps and turns away when he looks back at her.

BlackStar stretches once he steps out and Tsubaki closes the portal behind her. "Okay," BlackStar sighs. For once, he sounds tired. "He should be in this area."

Maka walks out of the alleyway and gawks at the swarm of bodies. The tide carries her away, others pressing hard against her in every direction. "E-excuse me!" She yells over the bustling people as she tries to return to her own group. The crowd is too strong to move against, and she worries she'll soon be forced alone and completely lost in a place she's never been.

However, a hand wraps around her wrist, and, as if he is a boulder forcing apart a stream, the monsters flow around Soul and her both. "Don't run off," he murmurs for only her to hear. BlackStar and Tsubaki are next to them soon, and they push to the other side of the street.

"The secret is moving with the crowd," Soul says in her ear as he pushes her forward, Maka all too aware of his firm grip on her hand. He detours her between people when a space opens up, and they continue like this until they reach the other side. "Where to, BlackStar?"

"Hold on," the other says as he pushes past the two. He looks around the booths until he waves a finger to a built man selling coffee grounds. Maka can't help but squint at the man. He _looks_ like a man, no horns, or other questionable features though he's unnaturally burly for someone so short. BlackStar yells. "Hey, you. Where's Kid at?"

The coffee seller squints at BlackStar before swinging his short-bearded chin at a nearby alley. "He's down that way and then a left."

BlackStar nods and leads the way. As the four pass the coffee seller's tent, Maka slows and looks back, her eyes opening wide. The coffee seller was kneeling in a five foot hole behind his stand! She rushes to her group, not wanting to be left alone with such a giant.

When Maka and the gang are out of sight, the coffee seller pulls out a phone and dials the only number he knows. When the phone stops ringing and clicks in his ear, he whispers his message. "Four comin' your way."

"Thanks, Joe," a female voice replies. "We'll take care of 'em."

"What was that guy?" Maka whispers as if they were still in the giant demon's presence. The alleyway is becoming smaller and smaller as they walk, the sunlight increasingly dim, and Maka feels as though eyes are following her every move. Soul looks behind him every now and then, and Maka becomes more tense knowing he feels it too.

"They're close to extinct, but I think he's the last nephilim. All I know about them is that they're giants and are banned from going to the human world." Soul shrugs. There were many demons here that couldn't- _shouldn't_- go to the other world. The coffee man was a giant and that's that.

"BlackStar?" A low voice echos against the buildings sending a chill down Maka's spine. They've reached a dead end and part of Maka wants to be scared, but something comes over her as she spots a tall, tanned man standing in the corner. Her head is dizzy, but not in an unpleasant way as she zooms in on a blonde beard. She isn't into bearded guys, but she thinks maybe she can make an exception with this one. The urgency of touching the man overcomes her as she steps forward.

Suddenly, arms wrap around her waist and the dizziness leaves her head so quickly that she falls into the embrace. "Woah there, Casper," Soul smiles against her hair, pushing down whatever she had felt before and replacing it with irritation. She growls as he pets her hair teasingly.

"Ew, Liz," BlackStar scoffs and pulls everyone's attention to him. "Of all the things you could be, you decide to be a Kapre?"

"Shut it," the man grounds out, but suddenly, he becomes a she. A blonde she with a red v-neck tee, blue cut-off jeans, and a pair of black boots that squeak with each step she takes towards-

"BlackStar!" A squeakier voice calls from behind them before a body pushes through and tackles the boy to the floor.

"Hey, Patti." He pats the girl on the back. Her hair is a brighter blonde, cut under the jaw, and the outfit is exactly the same as the other girl's, but the top cuts off above her belly botton. The two split apart and the girl turns toward the rest of them.

Large blue eyes take up half her face like a Bratz doll, a huge smile splitting her face. "Why, hello," she giggles.

Maka pushes off of Soul once her dizziness is at a minimum, and she reaches her hand out to the girls. The one BlackStar referred to as Patti blinks rapidly before gasping, bringing a hand to her mouth. She smiles, grabbing her hand, as she giggles out, "Are you a ghost?" Now, it's Maka who blinks at her, wondering how she could tell. She looks down at her body to make sure she's all there. She is, so she tilts her head in question, but Patti lets go of her hand and points at her as she calls on the other blonde. "Liz! She's a ghost!"

'Liz' nods warily, staring Maka down as she does. Maka shrinks away, but the tension vanishes when BlackStar jumps in. "That's why we're here to see Kid. We need help."

"You're lucky we spotted the blue hair. Woulda killed you on the spot." Liz grumbles as she pushes through the skull-painted door. The comment makes Maka wary, along with the creepy door and what she'd learned about the girls. Shape shifters, BlackStar had told her. The form Liz took before had been a Kapre, a tree demon that takes on a human-like physique whose smell attracts human females to them. Liz said she shifted into a kapre only for the added muscle, having no idea that a ghost was part of the group or that even a dead human could be attracted to Kapres as well. Maka gulps at the thought of her falling so easily into a trap as Liz yells into the house. "Kid! You have guests!"

Maka forces her fears down her throat; they can show themselves later, but right now, the reaper's son is going to help her. At least she can't be reaped, seeing as she's already dead, she thinks ironically. Footsteps hit the marble stairs and Maka waits nervously to meet the owner of the loud steps. When the reaper's son is finally on even ground with the rest of them, Maka is met with a boy in a black suit with black hair, white stripes going halfway across the top of his head. His eyes are an intimidating gold. He scans the group quietly until they rest on BlackStar.

"BlackStar… what are you here for?"

The blue haired demon wraps an arm around Kid's shoulders. "Hey, Kiddo," he laughs. "It's been awhile."

The other nods. "Yes, it has been. Now, why are you here with another territory boss," -Soul scoffs, removing his beanie- "a ghost, and a portal user? Are you trying to take over this territory- because you know that isn't an option. This territory is run by Death Palace."

BlackStar waves his hands. "No, no. You know I would never do that. Actually, we're here because of those two." He points to Maka and Soul.

"Okay," Kid turns to them. "What can I help you with?"

Tsubaki pulls out the book from her bag and hands it to Soul. "I need to know what's written in this," Soul says and passes on the book to Kid who scans the pages. "It's a book on human resurrection written by your dad, but it's in some cryptic language. Figured you could help with the translating."

Kid shrugs and sighs. "I can't read a word either." He pauses, inspecting the cover. "This does look like my dad's handwriting," he traces the signature on the front. "Why do you want to know?" Kid asks suddenly, eyes narrowing at the blood-sucking boss. "If I'm going to do all this research to find out what's in here, I don't want it to go to waste on resurrecting your ghost friend just so you can suck the life back out of her."

Maka swallows as she gives a side glance towards Soul's direction. Is this really all so he could suck her blood? Soul shakes his head quickly. "No, I just," he looks at Maka briefly, "I promised I would bring her back, alright?"

Kid exchanges a questioning look with BlackStar, but the other just shrugs. Was this a joke? Either way, Kid can't help but be curious about the book's contents, and more than anything, why his father created such a book. He nods to himself. "I can go to Death Palace and find out what this book says," he's glaring at Soul now, "but if you're lying to me, I will rip you apart."

Soul gulps, nodding his head. "Yeah, sure, whatever." _What is he getting himself into?! _

Right after his introduction, Kid leaves to Death Palace, not spending a moment more standing around. With Liz and Patti watching over the house, the group spends the rest of the day watching demon horror movies—Liz's choice— waiting for Kid's return. Throughout the movies, Maka pokes and nudges Soul at every little thing.

"Is the It the human movie or is that a demon movie?" and "So Nightmare on Death Street…demon movie?"

He would never admit how entertaining this girl is. She asked the silliest of questions, but didn't ask anything of importance like 'Why can people see me if I'm a ghost?', 'Why aren't you sleeping in a coffin?', 'Why is a vampire helping a ghost become human again?'

"So is Freddy real?"

Exactly the kind of question she would ask. Soul scratches his head at this Freddy character. There are no characters named _Freddy_ in this movie ever.

When Liz turns the lights on after the movie, Soul's heart rate slows thankfully. He's surprised when he realizes Maka's only jumped once. It's dark out, all the lights were off, and the tv was loud yet nothing seemed to have had effect on her. If anything, the blonde seemed to fear Patti who giggled at every jump scare than the actual movie. Funny how that is since Maka smiled when the demons tried to run from the human's deadly weapons. _Tough as nails_, he thinks.

Patti yawns as he and Liz stand, the couch caving in slightly from the missing weight. Liz stretches when she asks "Anyone care for a tour?"

Besides the kitchen, dining room, and living space on the first floor, four more rooms occupy the house upstairs. Patti happily shows off Kid's office/library, the first room on the second floor. Bookcases line side by side, covering every inch of wallpaper besides the corner directly in front of the door where a desk sits. Maka woahs as she takes small steps around the place, an amusing hum coming from behind her. She scans the books and smiles happily when she sees a few of the books she has at home. When Patti's voice is suddenly distant, Maka turns back towards the door where Soul is waiting for her silently. She raises an eyebrow, but he simply walks off.

"This is Kid's room!" the bubbly blonde beams when they enter the next room. As clean as it is, Maka cringes at just how _symmetrical_ it is as well. Where one clock sits on a dresser next to the king sized bed, another clock sits on the other side with an identical dresser underneath it. Two hampers occupy space in the room instead of just one, and Maka smacks her temple once she realizes the door is centered around the room instead of being placed in one of the corners. BlackStar frowns with teeth bared in disgust, but she isn't sure if it's for the same reasons she cringes or if maybe the cleanliness of it is too much for him.

"It's lovely?" Maka cringes at her obvious lie.

Soul shakes his head in disapproval. "This is hideous."

Maka glares at Soul with wide eyes and furrowed brows as she looks at Liz and back at him quickly. He shrugs though. Soul leads the way out of the room, Maka taking the end of the line for the door. When she reaches Liz, who waits at the door patiently, she stills.

"Hey, Liz?" Maka rubs her palm against her opposite shoulder. "What exactly is your relationship with Kid?"

Liz smiles proudly, head tilted high as if she's waited for this question her whole life. "Patti and I were taken in by Kid. Since then, we've sworn to protect him. So I guess that makes us his bodyguards."

When Maka only blinks and her mouth widens in awe, Liz smiles and leads her to the door.

"The other bedrooms are down the hall along with a bathroom," she smiles as Patti jumps on Kid's bed. When it's only the sisters inside, Liz begins to close the door behind them. "G'night."

"Good night," Maka smiles, "and thanks for the hospitality." Liz blinks at her for a second before nodding and shutting the door. Maka turns and catches up to the other three who have already made their way down the hall. BlackStar and Tsubaki duck into one room when Maka reaches Soul's side.

He scoffs next to her, "There are only two bedrooms?" He frowns at the doorway of the bedroom parallel from the one the other two houseguests had jumped into. The room is similar to Kid's, but not as big. It's grand nonetheless, with a high ceiling, walls painted in a giraffe print, and a full sized bed against a wall in the center of the room. At the foot of the bed, a yellow beanbag sits disfigured from it's previous sit-on.

"Good night, Soul and Maka~" BlackStar coos as he shuts the adjacent door closed, cackling loud behind it, and Soul's face crinkles.

"BlackStar, you little…" he growls. Maka walks into the giraffe-themed bedroom, trying to water down the fume of anger with the silliness of the room, knowing that yelling at the other bedroom door is useless. Soul huffs in defeat and closes the door after he walks into the room. His eye twitches. "S'pretty yellow."

Maka nods. What are they supposed to do now? There's only one bed in this room. Memories of this morning sleeping in the same bed as Soul come crashing down on her like a ton of bricks. When she realizes she can't tell him to sleep on the beanbag, she throws herself on one side of the bed in defeat. "Better not do anything stupid."

When the bed doesn't sink from extra weight, she looks for Soul, finding him still standing at the foot of the bed. He raises an eyebrow in question, and Maka groans. "You can sleep here," she points as far as she can on the other side of the bed before turning her burning face into one of the pillows. She hears a zip and a rustle of clothes before he hops into bed next to her. "You better have your clothes on or so help me…"

"I don't sleep with jeans on," he mumbles through a pillow, before the bed shifts again. Maka peaks through her hair and the pillow, spotting baby blue boxers with bones decorating them. She wheezes loudly, digging her head into her pillow.

"P-put something else on then!" she squeaks. When he doesn't move, she slides off the bed. Going through the dresser drawers, she finds a big yellow shirt and a brown pair of pajama shorts. She turns back towards the bed, Soul watching her every move as she lays the clothes down on the bed. "Turn around, pervert."

He does as he's told, twisting back to lay on his side. Maka changes, watching Soul's back to make sure he doesn't peek. When she's finished, she slides under the covers back into her spot and automatically turns toward the side of the bed. The bad thing is Maka never falls asleep on her side. She'll have to wait for him to fall asleep before she can dare herself to turn on her back.

She doesn't even try to sleep. The heat on her back makes her nervous, and she can feel the bed move with every breath he takes. Even the smallest of movements catches her full attention. She wonders if he too is having a hard time sleeping. She bites her lip, wondering if she should say something. "Soul?"

He hums in reply. What is she supposed to say now? Maka internally face-palms herself. "Thanks," slips out of her mouth so easily, like it's something she's been meaning to tell him. When she thinks about it, she should've said thanks awhile ago. He didn't have to do all this.

Soul flinches when he feels the dizziness and darkness that comes with these visions. When he blinks and the room becomes a little brighter, a smile blocks his view from anything else. He scoots back on the wood floor and realizes he's wearing the clothes he wore as a child. The blue-eyed girl is still smiling at him.

"Thanks, Solomon!" she giggles before wrapping her arms around him. Blonde hair covers most of his vision and he spits out some strands that end up in his mouth. When she pulls back, he gets dizzy again and things darken around him.

He presses a hand to his forehead, waiting for the headache to leave him. He moans, the ache a little too much for him to bear, and he turns on his back to reply to the green-eyed blonde.. He looks over and finds Maka already sleeping, arm laid out beside him.

With his jeans back on, Soul slips out of the room. He walks slowly through the hall and down the stairs, little creaks here and there pausing his journey to make sure no one has heard him. When no one comes out from their room, he continues until he's reached the living room.

"Where are you going?" Soul pauses any movement after turning his head towards his best friend. BlackStar is mostly a shadow, but Soul spots the venom in his voice. He's been caught.

"I can't stay," Soul says in a monotone voice. Sweat builds on his forehead with the brief silence. However, he chokes suddenly when he's thrown onto the floor, BlackStar on top of him. A snout growls in Soul's face, fangs bared down at him.

"And why the hell not?" The werewolf accuses lowly. Soul coughs as BlackStar's clawed hand squeezes his neck. "You giving up, Eater?" Soul tries to tear him off, but it's useless. Any other time, he could hold back BlackStar, but not when he was in this form. Before Soul loses consciousness, BlackStar sits up, hands returning to his sides.

Massaging his neck, Soul replies, "I can't be here right now." It's quiet for a moment and BlackStar returns to standing. As much as Soul hates looking up at BlackStar, he doesn't stand. Being on the ground like this would show this form of BlackStar that he's in charge. "I need Tsubaki's help too."

BlackStar's nose twitches, but as he opens his jaw, a squeak interrupts them. "I'll do it." Tsubaki walks out from her hiding spot around the corner, pajamas gone and a sweater and shorts replacing them. "What do you need me for?"

Maka stretches when sun seeps through her curtains. She feels the bed underneath her on all sides, nothing disturbing her outstretched limbs- not even another body. She peels her eyes open and looks at the spot in the bed where vampire boy had slept. The only thing white she spots are the sheets underneath her. "Soul?" she calls out, but no one answers.

After a few minutes of fully waking up, she pushes out of bed and out the bedroom door. She notices everyone else's rooms are open and empty, so she walks downstairs in her pajamas , into the kitchen where everyone is talking in low voices. "Morning?" Maka asks more than greets, the air in the room thick with tension. BlackStar and Patti are sitting at the table quietly as Tsubaki and Liz cook breakfast.

"Mornin'," Liz turns, smiling towards the blonde while stirring the half-cooked eggs. She seems to start a chain of reactions as Tsubaki waves behind her, BlackStar gives a 'yo', and Patti giggles. Maka takes a seat in front of Patti, shoulders lowering as she calms down.

"How'd you sleep?" Tsubaki asks as she starts stacking pancakes onto a large plate and Liz walks over to the table with a pan of scrambled eggs. She scoops out eggs onto the plates in front of each seat, and Maka smiles.

"Good." Liz sits down between Patti and Maka, and Tsubaki places down the plate of pancakes in the middle of the table before sitting next to BlackStar. The chair next to Maka is still empty. "Where's Soul?" Maka asks, and when nothing but silence answers her, she suddenly knows that she's asked the wrong question. She continues with caution. "I figured he'd be down here since he's not in the bedroom."

BlackStar rolls his eyes at this. "He left."

Maka moves around the eggs on her plate with her fork, remembering all the times people asked Soul if he was just trying to bring her life to suck her blood. She shakes her head from the negative thoughts. "What's he getting at the store?"

"No, that bastard is gone." BlackStar growls down at his plate. "He probably won't return because he never does anything for anyone but himself." He lets the silence be an indication to keep going. "He probably has no reason for you anymore. He found something new to entertain himself with."

Maka feels as though she'd been slapped. She stares at her food, too afraid to show the others how much that comment burns her insides. Angry steps follow a hard slap when Maka finally looks up. Tsubaki exhales harshly in front of BlackStar, hand outstretched next to his blue hair. The shock of the slap vanish from his face, and he turns to Tsubaki, eyebrows furrowed when Tsubaki yells in a shrill voice, "You know nothing, BlackStar!"

A cobblestone path leads him to his destination. Although it's been about a decade since he was here last, Soul unfortunately remembers every inch of this place. The nearly dead trees, perpetually skeletal, still wave through the cool wind, the skies grey as the restaurant down the street fills the air with the smell of dumplings. Soul walks past the restaurant, though; he's not here for the delicious food.

Passing each row makes him more and more nauseous, and when he is face to face with the object of interest, he bites his lip so hard he draws blood. His toes curl at the sight of the name on the tombstone. He hadn't visited her since the funeral…

Crouched down, Soul traces the carved name with his index finger in silent mourning. If only he had been stronger back then… leaves crunch and Soul turns his attention behind him. A tall man strolls towards him wearing a black suit, hair slicked to the sides. His blue eyes squint as he smiles.

Soul cringes. His brother, Wes, was someone he didn't want to bump into. Leaving would become much more difficult now. "Knew you would come back eventually," Wes says as he stops beside Soul. "Though I would've asked for permission first instead of strolling over here illegally." A hand pats Soul's shoulder.

"I'm on the edge. Technically, this area is open to everyone."

"You should come home."

"Nah, I think I'm good."

Wes sighs loudly. "Solomon, come home. Ma and Pops miss you."

"I doubt that," Soul whispers back. If they wanted him back, why didn't they stop him from leaving in the first place?

Wes kicks at the ground in frustration. "What are you doing here then?"

Soul hums, asking that question himself silently. It's all because of Casper's fault. That stupid human girl… he should have just eaten her when he had the chance.

Sitting next to his younger brother, Wes amends his question. "What are you running away from?"

Soul cringes. "Who said I'm running away?"

"You've been running away from everything and everyone since Anya died…"

Slouching forward, Soul eyes Wes from the side. Blue eyes met his red, frown matching his. Although the two are brothers, they are nowhere near identical. Wes has more of a squared chin where Soul's points out, washed-out blonde hair more neatly kept than his brother's messy white. Where Soul's teeth are sharp and monster-like, Wes had been blessed with straight, clean teeth that only protrude his fangs when he needs to eat.

Soul says, "I'm just stuck."

Wes rubs his hand through Soul's hair- something he'd always done when they were younger. "Well, the answer isn't to run away… whatever it is, you'll pull through."

"Maka! Lunch is ready!" Tsubaki calls from the bottom of the stairs. She hadn't seen the blonde since this morning- which was fine since she probably needed time. However, she isn't going to stay in her room forever, is she? Tsubaki takes the steps two at a time, anxious at the lack of reply. "Maka?" she asks behind her door. When no one answers again, Tsubaki pushes the door open warily. No one.

"Maka~" she sings, walking around the room. A smile plasters on her face, ready to cheer up the blonde somehow. When she rounds around the bed, she sees a blonde pigtail on the floor and her smile drops as a gasp escapes her lips, "Maka!" The blonde doesn't budge though, and her legs… they're gone! Kneeling down next to the blonde's side, she pulls her into her lap. "BlackStar!" She calls in panic. "Something's wrong with Maka!"

The stairs creak as multiple pairs of feet run up to the second floor before BlackStar and the Thompson sisters burst into the room. "What's going on?" BlackStar asks as he rushes to Tsubaki's side. He takes notice of Maka's form and grimaces. "What happened?"

Tsubaki sobs. "I was calling for her. She didn't answer so I came up to check on her, and she was unconscious and her body's vanishing! She won't wake up."

BlackStar nods and stares at Maka in thought. He shakes his head after a while, looks up at Tsubaki and gives her shoulder a squeeze. "I don't know what's going on, but Stein should be able to help."

BlackStar would have to laugh at Maka for being so heavy whenever she wakes. As he carries her on his back, rushing through the streets, he hears a sniffle not long after his sensitive nose picks up a hint of salt. "Tsubaki," he breathes out evenly, "she'll be alright." From his peripheral vision, he sees the tall woman nod as she continues to run alongside him.

It isn't long before BlackStar spots the familiar stitch-drawn house, and Tsubaki knocks on the white door. The streets are oddly quiet and empty, and BlackStar taps his foot impatiently as they continue to wait for the owner of the house. "Come _on_, Stein! Open up!"

The door creaks open, revealing a tall, pale man, stitches along his body and a large screw poking out of his grey hair. He smiles, a cigarette between his teeth. "BlackStar," he says in a monotone voice. "Nice to see you again." BlackStar doesn't miss the way the man's eyes flicker to the body he carries. Walking forward, BlackStar pushes through, not waiting to be welcomed into the house, and the doctor moves out of the way long enough for Tsubaki to enter behind her partner. He closes the front door. "What can I do for you?"

BlackStar knows exactly where he's going when he walks into the hospital-like room. He places Maka gently on the bed, catching a whiff of the anesthetics that fill the cabinets. The smells make his stomach turn, bringing memories of previous visits to the surface. "She needs help."

"Where're her feet?" Stein asks mostly to himself as he sits in his computer chair and rolls himself next to her. He remains neutral, showing no sign of surprise.

"That's what we'd like to know," Tsubaki cries and BlackStar quietly takes her hand. The two stand patiently as Dr. Frank Stein inspects the blonde.

After checking Maka's vitals, he pulls out a small flashlight from his jacket pocket and gently takes one of the sleeping girl's calves into his hand. Running the light over the disappearing skin, he hums happily. "Interesting."

When Stein says nothing further, BlackStar interjects. "What is, old man? Spill."

The flashlight shuts off and Stein stuffs the object in one of his pockets before he leans forward on his knuckles. "To put it simply, she's a mix. She's a ghost, but there are also signs of another demon type."

Tsubaki worries over the mischievous grin that suddenly appears on Black Star's face. "Is that other half of her part vampire?" BlackStar wiggles his thin brows, and Tsubaki's jaw goes slack. With an eyebrow raised, Stein nods but doesn't ask for any explanation. BlackStar begins to cackle. "Soul got her pregnant!" He laughs and Tsubaki stares at Maka in horror.

Stein blinks before shaking his head. "The only vampire substance in her is _magic_. She's not pregnant." Stein pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Each demon species generates a _specific_ type of magic from the magical essence that we absorb from the air here in the demon world. Because this girl is a ghost, one of the weakest demons to exist, her body doesn't need much magical essence to begin with. However, she has been given vampire magic. In order for her body to stay solid, she now needs to absorb the same amount of magical essence as a vampire, which is more than what her body is capable of gaining from the air. That's probably why she's disappearing."

BlackStar places his hands behind his back and shrugs. "I don't get it."

Stein continues as if no one had said anything. He looks down at the unconscious ghost. "I don't know how she got vampire magic in her to start with, but if she has the opportunity to get another dose of magic from a vampire, then she should take every last bit of it. Enough magic to capture the essence of what makes a vampire a vampire."

Tsubaki quickly interjects, fear etched onto her face, "Wouldn't that kill Soul?"

Stein begins mumbling to himself. His eyes glow in some sort of excitement as he talks. "If one property of the ghost species is that multiple types of magic can coexist inside them, then, by drinking another type of magic, they can essentially turn into another species. This girl has the body of a ghost but can also become a vampire. And if she does, not only will she stop disappearing, but she'll become a powerful hybrid."

"So Soul's going to die?" BlackStar barks. The doctor looks up finally and shakes his head.

"Only if she takes all the magical essence from him. She could get parts of it from other vampires, but I doubt anyone will just let her take some of their magic." Tsubaki's head bows, and BlackStar's arms flex, ready to punch something.

"There is another way," Stein smiles. "I created something about two weeks ago. Since my ancestor created a monster by stitching together pieces of human corpses, I wanted to see what would happen if I stitched pieces of demon corpses together. It was a success, and I let it roam off on its own to learn, but it never came back."

BlackStar blinks before smiling wide. "Oh, so now you need someone to stop it."

"More like pick it up. It's too strong for you to defeat."

BlackStar cackles. "I think you're forgetting something, old man." He throws his thumb against his chest. "I'm a territory boss. That makes me one of the strongest demons down here. Plus, it should be fun. It's been boring fighting weaklings."

Stein smiles and raises his hand to BlackStar. "Let's make a deal then. You find the artificial demon, and I'll help solidify your ghost friend."

A shiver runs down Maka's spine as a heat replaces the cold air surrounding her. She hums pleasantly, the air smelling familiar- like the time she and Soul had talked in her classroom… She calls out for Soul when the space becomes brighter and brighter. "Smml?" she tries to call again when she becomes conscious, but her mouth is stuffed. When her eyes adjust, a pale creepy face looks down at her, a smile spreading across his features. She squeaks.

Before she has a chance to swing a fist, the man moves back with a bottle in hand and Tsubaki is at her side, rubbing her shoulder. "Maka!" She rejoices. "How are you feeling?"

"Uh, I-I'm fine," she answers. She notices the change of environment, and asks, "What happened?"

"You were unconscious when I found you, and you started disappearing. I was so worried… BlackStar and I carried you here to get help."

A wave from the pale man catches in Maka's peripheral vision. "I was just feeding you some magic essence to help keep you solid."

Although intrigued, Maka ignores the man and continues her talk with Tsubaki instead. "Where is BlackStar?"

"He… had to leave for a moment. He'll be back." Tsubaki smiles. "I'm so happy you're okay."

"Yeah."

Before the silence becomes awkward, a chime fills the room and Tsubaki digs through her pocket, taking out her ringing cell phone. Maka notices her smile break when she stares at the front of the phone, but before she can ask what's wrong, the other girl stands.

Tsubaki excuses herself from the room, the phone ringing loudly in her hand. Closing the door, she looks at the little screen with the name of her caller again as if maybe her eyes had played a trick on her before. They hadn't. The caller ID still reads 'M' as the ringing continues to echo through the hall. Tsubaki flips the phone open and stares at the passing seconds displayed on the screen under the caller's phone number. When she brings it up to her ear, it's silent, and Tsubaki thinks about hanging up and returning to her friend in the other room when a voice finally cracks through.

"Tsubaki," an older female voice calls out. There's no question in her voice, but order. Tsubaki hums, not trusting her voice to answer without cracking. The other woman sighs in something that sounds like relief. "How are you?"

Tsubaki thinks about her answer. Should she reply honestly? Tell her she's taller now, eating well, living with a territory boss, and trying to figure out how to resurrect a ghost before they vanish forever? Tell her she's better off where she is now with everything that's going on than when she was with her?

She hums to make sure nothing is stuck in her throat before bringing the receiving end closer to her lips. "I'm alright." No, she wouldn't speak out of turn. However, curiosity consumes her, and she asks, "Why are you calling, mother?"

Searching for a single demon is harder than BlackStar had thought. He jumps from roof to roof, watching the streets below for anything strange. How is he even supposed to find this thing? Usually, his sensitive nose does the finding for him when he's looking for a new competitor, but it is no help when finding this new being. _The artificial demon is able to take another demon's body part at any moment so its smell changes with each new limb_, BlackStar remembers Stein's words before he left. "Damn it!"

He searches for another hour before he spots a store in ruins. Jumping down onto the dirt road, he rushes towards the site. The streets are empty, but he spots movement in the building next door. "Hello?"

The door rings when he steps inside the quiet place. Porcelain vases and dinnerware line the walls and the small tables in the center of the room. Some of them also litter the floor, shattered, and BlackStar has to suck in his stomach and walk on his tiptoes to get through. When he reaches the cash register, a small old woman peeks from behind the counter.

"Hi," BlackStar raises his hand in greeting. Her furrow eyebrows slant in confusion. "I was just wondering what happened next door."

Sighing in relief, the woman stands straighter, one or two inches shorter than him. She wipes her forehead with a handkerchief. "A demon," she shakes, "came and just started destroying the place. I couldn't hear well, but it kept saying something about needing eyes. It was all really confusing."

"Can you describe what it looked like?" BlackStar questions as he leans forward.

Nodding, she raises her hand, palm faced down, a little higher than BlackStar. "He's about this tall, pink hair. Has stitches all across his face. No eyes; they seemed hollowed out. He went away with a woman. She was… magical. Like a witch."

Brows furrowed, BlackStar spits out, "Are you 100% sure?"

The nod he receives is all he needs before he dashes out.

When Tsubaki returns to the room, her eyes crinkle at Maka like an older woman would at her grandchildren's boo-boos. Whoever had called her, Maka suddenly feels the urge to strangle them for causing Tsubaki's stress. The portal user sits in a seat next to Maka and smiles. "We should go. There's someone you should meet."

Maka nods, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. Maybe strangling someone will come sooner than she thinks. When she finally stands, her legs feel like noodles. Tsubaki notices her trouble and wraps an arm around the smaller girl's waist. "Stein, you have any more of those bottles?"

Stein, still sitting in a spinning chair quietly at the laptop, nods and rolls over to a fridge. "Last one."

He throws the bottle towards the two and Tsubaki catches it with her free hand before moving to the door. "Thanks, Dr. Stein."

"No problem."

When Tsubaki opens the door, she realizes that BlackStar might come back for her here. "Let BlackStar know I'll meet him at Kid's."

The doctor nods and the two girls leave the premises.

BlackStar searches and searches for any more signs of the strange demon or something odd in the city, but finds nothing. Going to the witches' territory would be entertaining, but the rules are the rules. No one but a witch is allowed in their territory. After asking around and not finding any real answers, he gives up and walks back to Stein's. Hopefully the information about someone with him will be good enough for the doctor right now. BlackStar lets himself in, defeat pushing his shoulders down. Stein hums at his desk typing away, but no one else is around. BlackStar clears his throat to let the doctor know of his presence. Stein turns in his seat, slight smile plastered on his face. "Where are the girls?" BlackStar asks.

"You just missed them," Stein replies. He brings up his hand to his ear, all fingers folded but the pinky and thumb. "Tsubaki got a call and took Maka when she woke. She said to tell you she'll be at Kid's."

BlackStar nods and walks back towards the door when Stein interjects. "Did you find anything on our special friend?"

They share a quiet glance before BlackStar nods. "It was seen with a witch."

Stein hums in response. "Alright. I'll let you go for now."

The black curtain doesn't lead to her bedroom this time. When Maka walks through the gooey mush, everything's brighter. She steps out onto the greenest grass, skies a clear blue. It would be like the human world if it weren't for the floating islands in the sky and dragon flying around with a bunch of large, floating cotton balls (at least, that's what they looked like).

"W-w-wha," Maka stutters, an electrical _shnng _buzzing behind her as Tsubaki passes through. She turns to the other girl, mouth agape, as she points. "Where are we?"

"You could say another dimension," Tsubaki smiles, teeth and all. "This is the realm of Haidora." Her expression and the way everything glows brighter in the new scenery reminds Maka of kids playing at a park, the playground a ship leading them to a new adventure.

A high pitched whistle pushes through the taller girl's lips. Before Maka asks if there was a reason behind the whistle, something creeps over towards their small island. Although it would be easy to mistake it for a cloud, the object doesn't seem airy. Maka would describe it more as a cotton ball when it reaches them. A cotton ball with eyes. Tsubaki jumps on it with thoughtless ease, and Maka's bottom lip slips between her teeth. "We're getting on that?"

Tsubaki laughs and nods her head. Coming closer to the edge of the island, the distance from her and their newest transportation is small but large enough to stir Maka's stomach. She lets out a sigh, walks backwards to give her more running space, and speeds toward Tsubaki. A scream sticks in her throat when she jumps, but the feeling of falling is short-lived as she sinks into the soft surface of the cotton ball.

A giggle escapes her lips when she sits up, ranging from relieved to crazy. Tsubaki smiles back at her before ordering the cloud to move forward. Rubbing her hands on the surface, Maka asks in excitement, "What is this?"

"This is a Bani. They're creatures that only exist in this realm, and are great for traveling. Isn't it cute?"

Maka nods without thought. She stuffs her face into the bani and sighs, the idea of sleep very welcoming. Relaxing her whole body and letting the wind ruffle through her hair, Maka whispers to no one in particular. "I could lay on this forever."

She gets a soft hum in reply, but for the rest of the ride, it is peacefully quiet. Tsubaki taps Maka when they reach the island with a large castle-like building. "Ready?"

The two jump from the Bani and onto freshly cut grass before turning around to wave the cloud-like creature goodbye. Tsubaki then leads them down a brick walkway bordered with different types of flowers and plants. Knocking on a door, Tsubaki stands tall and Maka feels the relaxation in her be replaced with nervousness.

The door opens, a tall man there to greet them. Maka's eyes widen and her brows shoot up as the blue-eyed man holds out a hand towards the inside of the house. "Welcome home, Miss Tsubaki," he smiles as she walks in. Turning to Maka, the man smiles warmly at her too. "Welcome, Miss Maka."

His blonde hair swishes around his shoulders as he closes the door and walks forward for them to follow. Tsubaki follows immediately, but Maka walks warily, stunned by the man's appearance. Apart from the blonde hair and small horns at the top of his forehead, Maka can't help but look at the man as if he's her father; they are so identical!

The way the man strides even reminds her of her dad when he leaves for work. Deciding to distract herself with her surroundings, Maka gapes at how large the interior of the house is. The floor is decorated in red carpet, and the furniture reminds Maka of an English tea party. Two sets of marble stairs line the walls and meet at the center, leading to a hallway.

The three climb the stairs and follow more red carpet to a sitting area with a couch on one wall and a matching chair on the other. The man holds his hand out towards the couch as he turns to them. "Please have a seat."

"Samuel," Tsubaki demands. Her voice is cold, but she doesn't seem mad. "I'm taking my leave."

"Alright, Miss Tsubaki," he replies, just as welcoming. "Have a safe journey."

"Wait!" Maka grabs Tsubaki's hand. Fear and confusion shake her. "Where are you going?"

With a tight smile, Tsubaki removes Maka's hand. She replies in a low voice for only Maka to hear. "Don't worry. I'll be right back."

_Knock, knock._

BlackStar waits at Kid's door for a long moment before it finally opens, Liz on the other side with a raised brow. Warily, she asks, "Where's Maka and Tsubaki?"

Dread washes over BlackStar, goosebumps forming on his arms. The girls are supposed to be here. So where are they? He runs a hand through his hair in frustration. "I was going to ask you that."

The blonde frowns, opening the door all the way for BlackStar to come in. She walks off and BlackStar follows her, into the living room, closing the door behind him. "She hasn't returned," Liz calls out as she grabs a red hoodie off of the armrest of the couch. Pulling it on, she looks up at the ceiling. "Patti! Stay put! BlackStar and I are going out to search for the girls! If they return, call me!"

A loud 'Aye' rings down the stairs, and the two head back towards the front door. The doorbell rings, however, BlackStar and Liz a step away from opening the door. BlackStar becomes relieved briefly before Liz opens it to white messy hair and a leather jacket. His stomach twists.

"Hey," Soul stares at the two with wide eyes. The tension is thick, Liz and BlackStar with equally wide eyes and open mouths. He lets out a long, frustrated sigh when BlackStar's thin eyebrows furrow. "What's up?"

With a fist in Soul's shirt, BlackStar pulls Soul into the house and throws him against the wall. Soul doesn't fight him, and BlackStar growls, "The girls are missing."

Soul stares in shock and everything pauses for a moment. "W-what?"

"They're gone. POOF!" BlackStar shoots out his hands out animatedly, hitting Soul in the shoulders. "Maka started disappearing so we took her to Stein's. Stein wouldn't help unless I did him this favor so I left, and when I came back, Stein said they would be here. But they're NOT!"

"Um," a female voice higher than Liz's interrupts. The boys turn towards the door, black hair waving in their face. Tsubaki looks at the ground or at the ceiling, anywhere besides the boys. "Hi," she waves.

"Tsu," BlackStar whispers, and slowly Soul feels the heat of the argument dissipate. When the couple embraces, Soul wipes his shirt down and wonders if the blonde is following behind Tsubaki. However, when Tsubaki becomes free of her boyfriend's grasp, nothing but silence follows her. BlackStar asks Soul's question for him. "Where's Maka?"

"She's… with someone," she replies, rubbing her arm with her other. "I came back to take you to her..."

"Miss Albarn, Lady Nakatsukasa calls for you," Samuel says after returning to her side. She pushes herself onto her feet and follows the man while concentrating on her balance and breathing. They walk through double doors and down a hall where pictures line the walls like an art gallery. She pays them no attention as another door is opened for her.

However, instead of being welcomed to another hallway, the door opens up a bedroom. Red drapes tied to the sides practically shine from the bright lights, and the crimson carpet now beneath Maka sinks at her weight. Anything not red was a bronze-ish brown like the walls and the comforter on the bed where a woman sits.

Maka jolts when she notices the woman: pale skin, pretty black hair with blonde tips, bright green eyes staring back at her. Now that Maka thinks about it, Tsubaki never did tell her why she is here. The woman's eyes are wide and Maka wonders if she was lead to the wrong place until the lady rushes towards her with a large smile.

"Maka?" she asks softly and unsure, her speed decreasing to a walk. Her voice is warm and light like... Maka only nods, but her shyness escapes her when the woman wraps her arms around Maka's neck, causing her to yelp.

"Maka!" The woman sighs. Not sure if she should return the hug or try to push her off as politely as one could, Maka stands still. "You must be so scared. It's alright now, though." She pets Maka's hair as the scent of honeysuckle and lemon bounces off the woman. "You're safe here."

"What does your mom want with Maka?" Soul asks in both curiosity and something else that he can't pinpoint. He's strangely irritated and panicky.

Tsubaki sighs heavily, shaking her head. "I don't know. I don't talk to her… my mom, I mean." She leads the two boys through her family's back door in a crouching stance. Today, her mom's security is at its lowest, and she has no idea why. What she does know is that Maka was led to her mother's bedroom before she left.

"Then why'd you take her there in the first place?" Soul spits as quietly as one can when being angry. Tsubaki stops in front of him, turns her head, and bites her lip. Something kicks Soul's calf, giving Soul a reminder that BlackStar is right behind him, not happy with his tone. Soul rolls his eyes.

"My mom wanted to meet her, and I don't disobey her." Tsubaki turns back with tight shoulders, crawling around the kitchen and enters what Soul assumes is the living room. Stairs line the wall and the group goes towards them. "I figured we could sneak in and save Maka if she's in any danger."

"_Is_ she in any danger?" Soul asks before hands behind him push him forward. Soul catches himself from awkwardly bumping into Tsubaki and turns, eyebrows furrowed and teeth clenched. "_What_!"

"Don't _what _me! _Tsubaki and I_ had to take care of Maka while you left!" BlackStar growls. "You have no right to yell at anyone about her anymore."

It's quiet for a brief moment before Soul swallows and turns back towards Tsubaki. He stares at the ground, waiting for her to continue to lead the way. When Tsubaki realizes the fight is over, she turns forward quietly as well and climbs the stairs. When they reach the top, she stands and walks through the halls without much thought. Although she hasn't been at the house for a few years, she still knew her way around it.

They reach her mom's bedroom door and stop around a corner to discuss a plan.

"Why can't we just rush in and take Maka back?" BlackStar smiles wickedly. For once, Soul agrees with the knucklehead, throwing a fist in the air and yelling a "Yeah!"

Tsubaki waves her arms frantically. "Shhhh! We can't do that with you yelling at the top of your lungs, giving us away."

A creak interrupts them as the owner of the house, Tsubaki's mom, pokes her head out from behind the door, a look of displeasure on her face. Tsubaki squeaks in surprise and tries to hide the three behind the wall, but her mother calls out, "You know, we can hear you kids." After a moment of slapping her palm over her face, Tsubaki sighs in defeat and pokes her head out apologetically. Her mother waves them over. "Come in, I guess."

Soul takes the lead and rushes in, spotting Maka the second he steps into the room. Wide green eyes meet his red ones, mouth agape, but she's silent. BlackStar and Tsubaki rush towards her with open arms.

"Wondered where you went!" BlackStar laughs. He pats the blonde's back roughly, below Tsubaki's hugging arms. "How ya feelin'?"

Slowly, Maka turns her attention away from Soul and towards BlackStar. What is she supposed to do or say with Soul, abandoning liar, in the room? She can't decide whether to be confused or angry. "I-I'm okay?"

Maka looks over at the older woman when she clears her throat. Everyone else turns their attention to her as well when she walks over to them. "Seriously, I was trying to have an one-on-one conversation with Maka..."

She watches Maka when she walks, but as she comes to a stop, standing next to Soul, she turns her attention towards him. "You want to resurrect Maka, don't you?" It's too late to answer when Soul opens his mouth to respond. "Well, the answer is no, you cannot. Maka is mine."

Soul interjects, "But-!"

"Have you heard of doppelgangers?" She interrupts him again. She strolls over to a bookshelf. "Books in the human world say there exists a person who looks exactly like yourself. If you meet that one person, you'll die. That's not true, though- like a lot of what the humans think about demons."

She pulls out a large white book, a photo album, with pink ribbons decorating it. Moving towards a couch in the opposite side of the room, she waves them all to sit there. When they do, Tsubaki sits between Maka and BlackStar, Soul on Maka's other side as the woman sits on the coffee table in front of them and holds out a picture she took from the book. "Look at this."

The picture has two people on it: a little girl and a lady, both with long pretty black hair. Soul realizes quickly that the woman in the picture is the same woman in front of him. Without the blonde tips in her hair and the same kind of purple eyes as Tsubaki's, the two are identical. "You haven't aged at all since then."

"Yes," she smiles, "I've looked like this since that time."

Maka points at the picture, her index finger landing on a shop sign in the background. "I know this place... That shop…"

"It's a flower store," Mrs. Nakatsukasa smiles warmly. "I used to go there. I really liked the flowers there so I often crossed over from the demon world to the human world to purchase them."

_Yeah, my mom and I always went there too_, Maka thinks.

"Once, as Tsubaki and I were arriving," Tsubaki's mother continues, pulling the picture back and placing it back in its spot in the photobook, "we bumped into _you and your mom_."

…

Huh?

It's silent in Maka's ears besides the ringing that doesn't seem to come from any general direction. The smell of honeysuckle and lemon is heavier now.

"Truth is, one doppelganger exists in the human world, and the other in the demon world. Should the two meet, they merge into one body and mind." _No, no, no,_ Maka thinks as the woman before her continues. "That's when I became a mother with children from the demon world and the human world at the same time."

With his heart drumming in his ears, Soul turns his attention to Maka, everything else around them blacking out. Although there were differences between them, the way Maka sat, her leg over the other with her back straight, the baby cheeks, her height, her love of books… Anya smiles back at Soul through Maka's presence. _The reason I have those visions... Is Maka the human doppelganger of Anya?!_

"So when my mom vanished…" Soul blinks away Anya and watches tears stain Maka's skirt. Her head is low, hair down like a wall, but Soul didn't miss the tremble in her hands. Reaching over, he smooths his hand over her's, but she slaps them away. She's still mad at him for leaving her...

"Your father knows," Tsubaki's mom (_and_ Maka's) frowns for the first time that night. "_Spirit_," she says as if to remind them of who's father she's talking about. "When I merged, I returned to the demon world, grabbed Tsubaki's father and went over to Spirit's place. We talked…"

"So you left us?" Maka croaks, but she's already wiped away any signs of tears.

"It was complicated, Maka. Both men loved me and we discussed all living together... But that _wasn't _possible. Spirit wanted you to have a safe and happy life in the human world. With Tsubaki always practicing to build the black curtain, that was impossible with us there. Your father decided he'd raise you on his own. For your sake."

Blonde hair hits Soul's shoulder as Maka shakes her head. Her mom continues in a pleading voice, reaching over for Maka's hand. "I'm sorry. But you can stay with us now. _Please_, Maka."

"... I can't. I won't leave Papa." She doesn't push off the woman's hand. With the knowledge of this being her mother, she just wants to hold her hand forever. "Why can't you live with us after I'm human again? I know better now."

"That's not likely. When you're resurrected, you'll forget everything about the demon world. Including me and Tsubaki." Getting up and placing the photobook where she sat, she leads the way to the door as she shakes her head. "I guess I should let you be on your way. Visit me before you return to the human world?"

Everyone stands before Maka, Tsubaki and BlackStar moving behind the woman as Soul stands, waiting at Maka's side. Realizing he isn't leaving any time soon, she pushes herself up and walks in the opposite direction of Soul. Samuel leads the group the rest of the way. Faintly, Maka thinks of the possibilities of the man being her father's copy. The sky is still as bright as it was before Maka went inside, regardless of how long they had stayed and how late it was when they entered. Bani floats where it had left Maka and Tsubaki before and the group walks over to it in silence before Tsubaki squeezes Maka's shoulder.

"You okay?" She asks, concern evident on her face. Maka thinks about everything that has just happened.

"I don't know…" She answers honestly. "When I walked in, I had no idea that was my mom. Shouldn't a daughter recognize her own mother? I don't know what to do with all this information…"

The nod Tsubaki gives her is relaxing. "Yeah, it's okay. Just don't over think about it. Just take things at your own pace." She frowns. "I'm sorry I brought you here. I didn't know…"

Maka waves her hands. She didn't like seeing Tsubaki without a smile. "It's okay. I... I think I needed that. It's good to know she's still alive somewhere." They hop onto the Bani after the boys, a relieving laugh escaping Maka's throat. "And that I have a sister!"


	5. Chapter 5

Once out of the realm of Haidora, BlackStar brings up his deal with Stein. They need to find the artificial demon for receiving the doctor's help. Splitting up would be the best option in finding it faster, he says, and they all agree. However, Maka never thought she was going to end up searching with Soul. Her blood boils as he quietly leads the way. Soul doesn't say anything for a long while, realizing that her anger is aimed towards him.

The cobblestone ground is framed by high buildings that block a heavy wind. Maka's bell- something Tsubaki handed to her for getting ahold of her- sits in her jacket pocket. The air around them howls as the trail leads them to a chapel, its stained glass windows of a blue bird shining with the sun's reflection. Maka opens the wooden door that creaks at her touch and walks through the place in floors are shining in blue and greens and purples.

"What are you doing?" Soul asks behind her. Turning back towards him, she watches as he leans against the door frame, his face neutral.

"Enjoying my time here," she says as she turns and rolls her eyes. The sound her boots make while walking is increased in volume by the emptiness of the place. There are no seats, no bibles, no altar. Just a large empty building.

"You realize we're wasting time here," Soul growls, the sound of his shoes clacking closer and closer behind her. Maka starts to stomp through the place, irritation with him increasing.

"I'm wasting your time regardless," she spits.

"That's not true," he growls.

"Yeah? You don't even care!"

"I do too!"

"Why'd you leave me then!?" Maka shouts and Soul isn't sure what to say. He stands there, mouth slightly parted, as his hands lay limp at his side. How was he suppose to explain everything to her?

"I-" Soul starts, but a loud crash from the rock walls stops the two from speaking. The two bring their arms up to cover their faces as rubble falls over them. Maka searches through the debris to find the source as she lowers her arm. Something pink catches her eye as it rises from the ground.

Quickly, Soul grabs ahold of Maka and pulls her towards him as rocks fly through the air, grazing his hands.

"Fast reflexes..."

Maka shivers at the shrill voice coming from in front of them and grasps tightly at Soul's shirt. Another rock is thrown their way, and Soul dips down to grab Maka's legs. He rushes out of the way just before the rock hits the spot they were standing just a few seconds before.

"I want your legs..."

Soul squints at the body in front of him. A boy with pink, uneven hair stands awkwardly, rubbing his hand against the opposite arm, staring at them with droopy eyes. His skin is in patches with stitches about an inch wide. He's wearing what Soul could only call a black dress, but it wraps around his body like another layer of skin. Maybe it's a dress and the demon in front of them is actually a female. It's hard to tell.

The creature raises a large part of the wall, and Soul takes note on how large their arms are. As if someone just attached them to their small body… _This has to be that artificial demon_, he thinks.

"Maka, get out of here," He pushes her towards the door as he watches the pink haired boy. However, footsteps don't echo against the wall like they had earlier.

"I'm not leaving. I want answers, Soul!" Maka yells a foot behind him and he can't help but clench his teeth in frustration. Can she not see that they are about to fight?

"Doors only open one way," the creature says before rushing towards Soul. Purple flames come up from its hand, but Soul is quick to block with his own red flames. The two collide and Soul thinks he's got them until he feels a vibration through his wavelength. His flames vanish and the purple flames cut deeply into his cheek.

Blood spills from the wound, from his cheekbone to his nose. As he breaths, Soul waits for his wound to seal, but the blood continues to flow.

"Poison..." Soul hears the demon whisper and his eyes widen. He's taken poison many times before, but no poison ever stopped him from regenerating. Was it because he had been feeding Maka his blood too long now or...

"A witch?" Soul clenches his fists. Witches aren't supposed to be in this area. There are strict rules for them! However, the only time he's heard of poison affecting someone's healing was the day after Anya's murder. The same stuff had been used on her before she was brutally murdered.

"Maka!" He shouts behind him. She stares at him with wide green eyes. "We'll discuss whatever you want later! Just get outside!"

She nods and runs toward the large doors they had come from. Soul turns back to demon who's surrounded in purple flames- its wavelength. He feels the air around him press forward as pink rushes past him. Something in Soul stops. He feels his wavelength ache as he turns and sees the demon rush towards Maka. Soul moves as fast as he can, his lungs burning as he pushes forward.

Maka hears air coming towards her like a rocket launching and she turns her head back to the fight. However, the boys aren't there anymore. She turns her head further behind her and spots the two coming at her. Soul pushes his arms past the artificial demon, standing in front of Maka. She turns to push them out of the way, but it's too late. Purple arcs through the air, and red blurs her vision. Soul gasps in agony as he's sliced by the purple flames, and Maka cries out.

Her ears are ringing and she hears nothing but the _thonk _of Soul's head hitting the pavement hard. Blood is everywhere. Maka falls to her knees and reaches for Soul. His eyes are shut and his body hardly moves for breath. Dropping to her knees, she reaches for Soul and pulls his head into her lap.

"Soul?" she cries and shakes his shoulders gently. Nothing.

"The door only opens one way," the monster in front of her says as they bring their flames up. Realizing there was no way around it, Maka closes her eyes and waits for the blow. However, it never comes as the doors burst open and two pairs of feet land in front of her.

Opening her eyes, she looks up at Tsubaki and BlackStar. Tsubaki falls onto her knees and wraps a hand around Maka's shoulder, and BlackStar is facing the artificial demon, blue fur pushing through the rips of his torn shirt.

Maka can't look away from him. Is that really BlackStar? The werewolf growls angrily in front of her, claws ready to swipe at the enemy.

"Good thing you rang your bell," Tsubaki whispers next to her, looking over Soul's wounds. Looking down at Soul's body would be a messy mistake so Maka just looks back at Tsubaki's shoulder.

"I didn't ring it..." Her face falls.

"Must have rang from the quick movement then." Tsubaki pulls out her cell. "We're going to need Stein as soon as possible."

As the phone rings, a mean bark brings Maka's attention back towards the other two monsters. The artificial demon has his hand stuck in the werewolf's jaws, and it screeches when the werewolf yanks and its arm rips out of its socket. Blood splatters against the cobblestone floor.

"Stein?" Tsubaki calls. "We found it, and we've got an injured person."

The artificial demon clutches at the wound as BlackStar leaps at them again. Before Maka can see the result of the jump, she's suddenly back in doctor Stein's place with Tsubaki, Soul still in her lap.

The doctor pulls out the cigarette from his mouth and smashes it in the ashtray before getting up and picking Soul off the floor. Maka helps get him into a bed before Tsubaki's hand is back on her shoulder, pulling her out of the way.

Maka watches as Stein works on Soul. As he lays limp in a hospital bed, blood stains the white sheets. Maka chokes back a sob at his paling face. She needs to be strong. He'll make it, and when he wakes, she's going to have to be there for him, ready to help in any way.

Stein wipes the blood from Soul's cheek and seals the cut with what looks like a large piece of white tape. He moves quickly onto the real problem- the large gash from Soul's shoulder to his lower abdomen.

It should have healed by now! Why isn't it healing? Stein takes a needle and inserts it into the gash. The urge to tell Stein that that'd only make things worse stays in her throat as she bites her lip and watches the doctor search through his cabinet with the needle in hand.

Blood and sweat cover BlackStar's fur as he inhales sharply. The blood isn't all his, but he definitely has a few injuries that should get checked as soon as possible- his shoulder for example. The gash stings with every swinging motion he makes towards the pink-haired _thing _in front of him. His lips pull back in excitement.

Yes, yes, _yes_! Finally someone to test his strength! He flexes his arms unconsciously before something warm touches his back. The tension in his back loosens automatically and his smile becomes less maniac and more relaxed. "Is he alright?" he asks.

Tsubaki hums "mmhmm" and grabs his outstretched hand, breaking his fighting stance. In front of them, the demon stares hollowly back at them, hand on its other elbow. Tsubaki yanks poles from the side of her boot with her free hand and attaches them together, forming a rectangular window. "Ready?"

In a blink of an eye, the two vanish from their spots which causes the artificial demon to shake. It snaps its head side to side, but can't find them. BlackStar smiles behind him, and rakes his claws down its back. Whimpers escape them, and BlackStar gets ready for the final blow. He pushes his claws forward to finish it off. However, he falls forward onto the ground.

Tsubaki gasps behind him as a new pair of feet form in his peripheral vision. A shiver runs down BlackStar's spine as his claws shrink, his fur disappears, and the energy he had before dissipates. Tsubaki's hand wraps around his uninjured shoulder before purple flames can touch them.

Farther from the monster, the two watch as it vanishes just a fast from its previous point. A whoosh reaches BlackStar's ears, but they're through Tsubaki's portals again in just the right time. "He can use portals too?" BlackStar asks when the enemy is gone again. The sound of weapons clashing rings in his ears as he turns and see Tsubaki blocking with her now straight pole.

"No," Tsubaki growls out, her voice something BlackStar usually enjoys during certain circumstances. However, now isn't the time. "You stole my black curtain, didn't you?"

"You shouldn't leave something so powerful out in the open if you didn't want someone to take it," it replies as it pushes his weapon flames harder. BlackStar wraps his arm around Tsubaki's waist before she can be smashed by the other's weapon. Opening another portal, the two fall into it.

They appear above the target and BlackStar takes another swing at him. His claws rip the skin on its forehead, and it cries out. Its hands cover the deep cuts and they fall to their knees in agony. "That hurt!"

BlackStar doesn't wait a moment more. In full speed, he rushes at them, claws inward in one sharp weapon, and swings. Blood sprays in his face as the enemy's head falls and rolls on the floor.

The building is quiet besides the couple's heavy panting as they try to calm their pounding hearts. Fur and tail shorten to nothing, snout shrinks down to a pudgy nose, and claws become fingernails as BlackStar runs out of energy to even stand. He falls to his knees and clutches at the wound on his arm.

Footsteps echo against the walls as Tsubaki rushes towards BlackStar's side. "We need to get you patched up before you bleed out."

Her voice is strong and unshakeable, but he doesn't miss the way her brows crinkle together and the slight moment she bites her bottom lip. Grabbing one of her hands into both of his, he smiles and nods.

BlackStar and Tsubaki return to Stein's place just to find Soul still in critical condition. Maka sits at a chair in the corner of the room, her head in her hands, and Stein is going back and forth between the medicine cabinets and Soul's bed. BlackStar walks up to Stein. "What's going on? Why's Soul not up yet?"

"He needs more magic," Stein sighs. "Without it, he's not going to make it."

Maka chokes and new tears stain her cheeks. Clutching her stomach, she focuses on her breathing. In and out, in and out. When she becomes more relaxed and focused, her attention returns to Stein. "Is there any way of getting magic for him?"

Stein smiles and nods. "I need a donation of someone's magic. Possibly two someones. The more people the better."

"I'll donate!" Maka stands and shoots her arm towards Stein as if she's about to donate blood. Stein only shakes his head.

"You would just disappear for good." He looks between BlackStar and Tsubaki. Tsubaki nods and walks towards the bed next to BlackStar.

"What do we need to do?" BlackStar asks.

Stein leans in over Soul, pulls out a knife, and jabs it in Soul's stomach. BlackStar and Maka jump at the man, but he easily avoids them before yanking one of Tsubaki's and BlackStar's hands and wrapping them around the hilt of the blade. "Maka, get them chairs to sit on. They're going to feel it soon."

Maka stares at the man in bewilderment. She looks at Soul's sleeping face and watches the color in his skin return. Around the blade, the same red flames Maka saw Soul fight with come from the wound and latch onto Tsubaki and BlackStar. She moves then, going around the bed to grab to chairs, and she drags them back and under her other two friends.

They don't sit at first. However, not long does Tsubaki start to sway and falls into the chair. Her hand remains on the hilt, but no longer because she chooses to. Her shoulder pulls back, but the Soul's wavelength holds her tight. BlackStar begins to pull on her arm as well, but it doesn't budge. "Stein!" BlackStar yells as Tsubaki begins to lose consciousness, laying her head on the bed. "What's going on?"

Stein reaches for the hilt and once he touches it, the wavelength lets Tsubaki and BlackStar go and holds onto him. Maka shakes Tsubaki, but she stays unconsciousness, her skin pale and her breathing shallow. BlackStar didn't look any better. "Because Soul's critical condition, his wavelength latches onto any source of magical essence in its reach." He says as the wavelength begins to shrink back into Soul. "Grabbing onto the hilt allows him to steal any magic from the holder."

"Did you really have to stab him then?" Maka asks, irritation obvious in her voice.

Stein shakes his head with a smile. "Just thought I would give you all a scare."

Maka growls, but BlackStar waves it off as he gathers Tsubaki into his arms and moves his chair closer to her's so he can lay her head against his lap. "So what's wrong with Tsubaki?"

"She just doesn't have enough magical essence to keep awake at the moment. Give her an hour and she'll be fine."

"And Soul?" Maka asks.

"He should wake around the same time."

Stein was right. Tsubaki wakes up an hour after, Soul waking a few minutes after her. When he opens his eyes, Maka squeezes his hand and asks how he feels. "I'm alright," he replies hoarsely, and he isn't lying. The gash stings a little, like a papercut, but besides that, he only has a huge headache.

Maka doesn't smile at his answer though. Her eyes drop to her lap, lips quivering. Soul squeezes her hand and waits for her to look back up at him before saying, "I'm fine, Maka. So don't look so sad."

She bites her snide remark of 'I'm not sad. Why would I be?' because there's no way she can joke right now. Soul almost died and it was her fault. Her vision begins to fog as tears slide down her cheeks. "I'm sorry," she sobs. "I'm so sorry."

Soul pulls her hand until Maka stands from her seat. Then he wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her into bed next to him. Her arms wrap loosely around his neck as she cries harder into his shoulder. He buries his face into the crook of her neck as his hands massage her back. "I'm alright," Soul repeats over and over until her sobs become hiccups. She sits back, her body sitting lightly above his knees.

BlackStar clears his throat. Embarrassment fills Maka as she slides off Soul and back into her chair. "Glad to see you're alright," the blue-haired boy smiles, and Tsubaki nods in agreement.

Suddenly, a bell rings, and Stein walks out of the room to the door. It's quiet in the room until Stein comes back with Death the Kid following behind. He stops in the center of the room, tugs on his tie, and stares at the group. "I know how to bring her back to life."


	6. Chapter 6

Alcohol from the medicine in the room fills Maka's lungs as she takes a deep inhale of air. The fluorescent lights do something crazy to her eyes. Everything around Death the Kid turns purple with every blink of her eyes. "What?" she asks.

He scratches the top of his head, hair becoming slightly messy, and steps closer to the group. "You have to work for it, but we can definitely bring you back to your original state."

Soul sits up, hand pressed to his stomach as he does so. Maka scoots closer to him, ready to help him in any way possible, but Soul holds his hand out for her to stay where she is. "What do we need to do?"

"Well, to bring a person back to their original state," he starts, "they would have to collect 100 soul fragments."

"Soul… fragments?" Maka thinks of the monsters she heard about as a kid that stole the souls of little kids. The back of her neck scrunches together in horror.

"Soul fragments are memories of humans who have died—who had affiliations with demons or their lives were touched by one. During the humans' last few minutes, they usually wish for something. Because of that, the soul fragments hold onto their last wishes in order for someone else to fulfil them. Your soul fragment would be in the human world if you were killed there, but if you were killed here by a demon, your memory is vacuumed into the air and becomes energy."

"Do demons usually go to the human world?" Maka asks in bewilderment. When she thinks about it, she and Soul had gone to her school without any suspicion from the other students. Tsubaki and her mother also went to the human world frequently when she was younger. How many other demons were in her life?

"Ones that are below the food chain or are wanted criminals here usually take refuge in the human world. There are also other species that can't survive without human flesh."

"And you want us to collect one _hundred _of these things?" Soul asks, head moving forward to proof how impossible that seems to him. "Do we even have a clue of where to find them?"

"No," he sighs. "My father said it's possible for ghosts to sense them somehow, but I don't know exactly how that works."

He looks directly at Maka for some kind of confirmation, but she just shrugs, eyes wide. "I didn't get to stay in the human world for long as a ghost. I don't know."

It's quiet for a long moment, everyone busy thinking besides Soul. "Well," he says after a few moments, "I made a promise, didn't I?"

His smile is contagious for Maka, all her questions and worries disappearing with his words. She nods, and his smile opens, showing off his sharp teeth. "Let's go then."

"I've set it in the city next to Maka's school and home so you don't run into anyone Maka knows," Tsubaki tells Soul and Maka inside the vampire's apartment. The wall next to his bed, the only wall not covered in basketball and TV posters, is replaced by the black curtain.

"Alright," Soul nods. "Thanks, Tsubaki."

The girl's lip quivers, and she quickly wraps her arms around Soul and Maka. "Be safe," she says and pulls back. "Wish BlackStar and I could come, but we have to get back to our territory before someone takes over it."

She looks over towards Kilik who's talking with BlackStar in the hall. "You're lucky you have someone to watch over your place."

With that, she leaves the room, BlackStar waves them goodbye, and they vanish. With a smile on his face, Kilik enters the room. "So you were serious about this."

"Yeah," Soul replies. The two stare at each other for a moment, and Maka wonders if either of them could read minds. Kilik lets out a breathy laugh before heading towards the door.

"Okay. I'll be next door. Let me know if you need anything." The door closes, leaving Soul and Maka standing in the room alone.

"You ready?" He asks, and Maka lets out an exasperated squeak.

"Shouldn't you sleep or something?" Her eyes fall onto his clothed torso. His previous shirt was thrown away, nothing left but scraps, and was replaced with a simple black top that outlined the muscles underneath it.

Maka had also switched her bloody clothes out. Tsubaki lent her a black, shoulderless long-sleeve top with blue drawstring shorts.

"It's perfect for walking in the night, not wanting to be seen. Plus, it's cute. Soul's going to be so mad at me." The girl had said when giving her the clothes. Maka still didn't understand why Soul would be mad about a new pair of clothes, though.

"I slept when we were at Stein's. I'm fine." He takes her hand and pulls them through the black curtain before she can refuse.

A chill hits them the moment they step out of the black curtain and into the human world. The sky is black, but the lamplights and restaurant signs keep the streets visible. The alley they step into is dark enough to keep the black curtain hidden from everyone else.

Maka remembers then what Kid had told her before they left Stein's place. "This is just a theory, but if you concentrate on a human in front of you, you should be able to see their soul. You'll be able to see everyone's soul. So my guess is that the soul fragments should look slightly different from all the other souls."

Maka takes the lead, walking out of the alley and looking at the people walking around them. A couple passes in front of them, and Maka focuses on the girl's form.

"Focus on the area a human's heart is," Death the Kid said, pointing at his stomach. The memory makes her smirk. She corrected him afterwards that the heart was higher, in the human's chest. "Imagine a glowing sphere and it should appear. At least, that's what my father said ghosts saw."

She follows the instructions he had given her. She imagines a glowing ball inside the human girl, waiting for the image to become solid. Nothing happens at first. Worry begins to fill her mind that it isn't going to work and they'll have to search for years until they finally find one single soul fragment. However, the woman's body begins to fade until she's an outline, and the only solid part of her is the glowing blue sphere.

It isn't a full sphere; the top of it comes out like Jimmy Neutron hair. When Maka looks around, everyone is just a different version of soul, some a brighter blue, and some with different shapes.

Maka walks aimlessly, waiting for some kind of major difference to appear in the souls. Soul doesn't say anything as they walk a few miles. Suddenly, something glows ahead of them, and Maka can make out what she believes is the soul fragment.

It glows blue like the other souls, but it's shaped like shattered glass. Maka blinks away the vision of souls and runs. "Found one!"

She runs around a building and turns until an animal-like growl stops her in her tracks. Something pulls at her waist, and she wants to scream, but Soul shushes her. His eyebrows meet his eyes as he talks in a low voice. "Don't go running off in the dark! You're going to get us caught."

When he lets his hand fall from her face, she retorts, "Caught by whom?"

"Other demons, you doofus." He looks around the corner, nothing in sight.

"Ready?" He whispers, standing tall and grinning with excitement. With hands clenching at her sides, Maka nods. She's as ready as she'll ever be, she thinks as the two start moving forward.

Soul takes quick and precise steps, and Maka follows, hunched over behind him and making sure nothing jumps out around the two. When they find the source of the growl a few feet in front of them, Soul pushes around the closest building to hide.

His hands around her feel like fire on her skin, and Maka focuses more on her breathing as Soul watches the creature with narrowed eyes.

Even if Maka wants to move, she can't. With her back against a brick wall, Soul holds onto her knobby elbows tightly, not enough to hurt her but enough to keep her still. Soul pulls away from the corner of the building, his body now parallel with hers, and Maka notes how short she is to Soul: her eyes level with his chin and strong jaw line.

His chin drops when he looks down at her, eyes wide like he's suddenly realized the distance between them. They're still a brighter red than Maka would assume possible in the dark. His breath hits her nose as he exhales like someone kicked him in the stomach.

"Sorry," he whispers, scratching the back of his neck. "The, uh, demon went that way." He points towards the area the creature was and at the corner it had taken. With fear and excitement pumping in her veins, Maka moves out of Soul's grasp and begins walking down the street. Feet shuffle behind her before she feels Soul's warmth.

"Why is the demon carrying the soul fragment? Don't they just eat the flesh?" Maka whispers mostly to herself as she sticks her head around the corner. The roads shrink and become darker from the lack of street lamps, making it hard to spot the thing at first. However, her eyes adjust and the fragment glows against its wet looking skin. She takes each step carefully, making sure not to make a sound and to stay in the darkest parts of the street against the wall as possible.

Soul follows behind her, his hand pressing into her back to let her know of his presence. They're so close. Just a few more steps...

Something catches onto Maka's foot, and she falls onto the pavement, breaking whatever is beneath her. She moans at the contact, and Soul sees the creature's eyes turn in their direction. "Shit."

He yanks Maka's shirt, pulling her up on her feet, and starts running back where they came from. The ground trembles under them, the creature dashing forward. Soul takes as many corners as possible, hoping to slow and lose the creature, but then it jumps onto a roof and starts following them from above.

Soul finds a street large enough for them to run through but too small for the creature to fit. The other side of the street is bright with cars and loud with people that they could easily lose the monster in, but they needed that soul fragment. Soul doubts the monster would just let it go for a moment.

"You alright?" He turns to Maka and searches for any sign of wounds, but it's too dark to see anything.

"What was that thing?" Her voice isn't filled with horror like Soul expects it to be. In fact, she's looking back at where they had come from to see the creature again.

"I don't know. If I had a better look at 'em, I could figure out how strong it is."

"Well, if we sit here all night, we won't ever know," she replies.

The sound of a fan comes from above them, and air blows on top of them momentarily. Both of them look up and a slimy, eyeless creature roars at them, spit soaking their hair. The nose is just two holes above its large mouth, and its skin has this see-through layer that spills goo down its body.

The creature swipes a claw through the street, but it doesn't reach them. Maka looks to Soul as a guide, but he only smirks.

"Stay," he says while staring at the creature. Maka would have thought that maybe he's talking to the creature above them as if it's a dog, but he holds his hand up to her and runs where they came from previously.

"What are you doing?!" She screams, watching as the monster follows Soul. It jumps off the roof and falls on top of him.

"Soul!" Forget what he says! She's not letting him run off without her again. Dashing down the street, she watches the creature warily, but it doesn't move. And Soul doesn't come out.

"Soul?" Taking her steps carefully, she walks around the slime ball looking for any white hair. None. However, she spots the soul fragment glowing between clothes. She walks closer and closer to it, looks back at the motionless beast, and pokes it. It doesn't move.

Maka slips her hand between the claw, and when she pulls it out with the fragment in her grasp, slime covers her up to her elbow. "Ew."

Something grabs her leg. "Lemme out," someone says underneath the creature.

"Soul?"

"Yeah. Just help, would you?" Maka puts the soul fragment into her pocket and pulls up the creature's arm. Soul crawls out, and stands. "Did you get it?"

"Yeah, but how...?" Her finger points in the direction of the beast. He only shakes his head.

"I'll explain it some other time. Let's head home."

Throughout the week, Maka and Soul return to the human world in search for demons. Sometimes they were lucky to find a few weak ones Soul could take out in one swing, but other times, the two struggled staying uninjured. Tonight is a good example.

Soul rushes around his apartment, ripping the cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom open before banging them closed. Maka waits patiently on the bed, pressing her finger on the skin below the cuts on her knee. "Soul, it's not that big of a deal," Maka calls out, rolling her eyes at the growl coming from the bathroom.

He comes back into the room with his arms full of bandages and medicine. Kneeling onto the floor in front of her, the bandages bounce on the carpet and Soul places the bottles on the floor carefully next to him. His fingers brush against the back of Maka's calf which flexes at the touch. Thank God Soul is too busy focusing on her knee and the lights are dim, Maka thinks as her cheeks burn.

"This might sting," Soul mumbles before taking a washcloth dipped in a clear liquid and pressing it into the center of the wound. Maka flinches and a hiss escapes her, but she easily recovers. Once she seems alright with the new medicine, he dips it again and finishes cleaning the cuts. He finishes with wrapping a bandage around it. Maka sighs, happy the whole thing is finished.

Getting thrown to the floor was worth it in the end. It stung a lot, but because the demon had all the attention on her, Soul was able to finally kill the thing. Soul carried her the whole way home without a scratch on himself.

Something brushes against Maka's cheek lightly, pulling her out of her thoughts and looking up at Soul who's leaning on his knee with the same cloth in his hand, patting her cheek. "You've got a few cuts here too," he whispers, rubbing off some rocks and dried blood.

Maka doesn't look back at him, only staring at the floor. Before she knows it, Soul is stepping away from her. The bed sinks beside her and Soul sighs, body spread out on the sheets. "Man, this is exhausting. We've only caught four of these things."

The thought of Soul giving up on this search spills into Maka's mind like poison. She's still upset about him leaving before, but to admit it's still affecting her sounds embarrassing. That will make it sound as if she can't handle being apart from him. She can… sure, she's grown attached to him throughout this whole journey, but she can live without him in her life… She is going to have to when she becomes human again, anyways…

A snore breaks Maka from her thoughts. She turns to see Soul's eyes closed, obviously asleep. Since the beginning of the week, she's shared Soul's bed with him, but it doesn't make her any less hesitant to lay down. Her hand hovers over the sheets next to her before slowly sinking into the cushion. She pulls herself onto the bed in one swift movement causing the bed to move, but Soul remains unconscious.

She starts laying in the bed facing away from him like every night, but she doesn't sleep. Maybe sleeping on her back will help? She turns onto her back and lays there for awhile, but she stays awake. Unconsciously, her eyes fall onto Soul's sleeping form. She giggles at Soul's open mouth and the noises coming from it.

Her attention falls onto his exposed neck. The idea of finding a bite mark there is amusing, but his skin is clean from any scars there. The smell and taste of his blood make her mind buzz. Maybe it isn't the smell or taste though. Maybe it was the buzz Maka felt after having his blood on her tongue.

She scoots closer until Soul's hair moves with every exhale from her mouth. What is she doing?! Does she plan on biting him? Her body's pressed against his arm, her mouth so close to his neck. If she can just move slightly forward-

Soul's snores slow as he turns on his other side, brushing against Maka. Her stomach flexes as she internally screams and slides to the side of the bed until her feet finally touch ground. She tiptoes into the bathroom, closes the door behind her, and sighs.

"What the hell, Maka?" she whispers to herself. She must be seriously losing it, trying to bite him and suck his blood. A ghost sucking a vampire. Ha! She turns on the sink, cups water into her hand, and dips her face into it.

Looking at the mirror is a huge mistake. Soul's reflection looks back at her from the door, worried. She jumps in surprise and turns to whack him. He didn't see it coming.

"Ow! What the fuck, Maka! That hurt!" He hisses. "I was just coming to check up on you."

They exchange glares until Soul catches Maka's gaze fall on his neck. He edges closer to her and her face warms. "What's wrong?" He asks.

Maka backs up into the sink, waving at him to stay away. "It's fine! Just... I'm afraid I might bite your neck."

He doesn't laugh or pull away. Instead, he sighs and steps forward, understanding what she means. "Here."

He pulls the collar of his shirt down, exposing every inch of his neck and collarbone. His other hand brushes against her head and pulls her close.

She can't help it. Here he is, telling her it's okay to bite him. Nothing can stop her now. Placing her hand on his shoulder for support, she pulls her tongue back as far as she can and sets her teeth against his skin. Slowly, her teeth sink, but Maka is ready to pull away whenever he says to. Her tongue swipes against the surface, but no blood meets the muscle.

"See?" Soul says lowly as Maka removes her mouth from his skin. "Even if you do bite me, nothing happens."

There are no puncture wounds, but wet, red skin and indents of her teeth. Praying he doesn't notice her saliva on his neck, Maka backs away as far as she can into the sink. It isn't far enough though; her hands keep her up, leaning on the porcelain as her hips are snug against Soul's. When she looks back up at him, she notices his eyes are thick with sleep.

"Sorry," she whispers. "You don't have to help me, you know."

She glares at the floor. She wants him to give up helping her, she realizes. Since the scare with the artificial demon, she's felt guilty. He can get hurt again or possibly die because of her. She doesn't want that ever. That's the other reason she wishes for his disappearance. She couldn't deny it; when Soul had left her, she felt like someone had punched her in the gut. She's getting too attached, and that's never good.

He waves her off. "You're not making me do anything."

Her gaze remains on him for a quiet moment, before she shrugs the topic away with another."You look tired," she says.

He yawns in reply. "Yeah, I am, but I was worried you lied earlier."

One of her eyebrows rise in questioning.

"About being fine," he finishes. "You bumped your head pretty hard back there."

She thinks back to when she was thrown. She _had _hit her head, she remembers. Her ears ring and her head pulses as she simply replies with, "Oh."

Soul wraps his arm behind her back and pulls her feet from under her with his other until her head falls into his shoulder. She gasps in shock. "Soul! What are you doing?"

He shushes her, walks into the other room, and throws her onto the bed.

"I'm getting you to sleep." He falls onto the bed next to her. Before Maka can scoot away for comfort, Soul's arms wrap around her waist from behind.

"Soul," she hisses, "what are you doing?"

He shushes her again, lip brushing against her ear. In a husky voice, he replies, "Go to sleep."

…

Maka isn't sure how she did fall asleep with the boy snoring in her ear, arms firm around her. However, the thought of drinking his blood vanished when she wasn't facing towards him. Kicking in his sleep hadn't been pleasant though. When Maka becomes conscious, her joints scream at her. Her neck lays uncomfortably against something, and her legs beg for her to stretch, but her legs are tangled in blankets and another pair of feet. Air hits her nose and she forces the tiredness away as she peeks in front of her. She bites her lip and freezes, only her heartbeat chugging on.

Maka tries to think of all the ways this could have happened- Maka facing in front of Soul, noses nearly touching. _Two inches_, Maka thinks. _Two inches from our noses touching and I become a pile of embarrassment._ The arm under her shifts, and without thinking, she raises her head and scoots closer. Both of his arms move sluggishly around her waist, hands rubbing exposed skin between her pants and loose top. They send a tingle down her body as they reach her spine and pull her closer.

Maka panics. What is she supposed to do? Her hand is stuck in between their chests, the other hovering over them in the air with no place to go safely. She can't breathe. There is no way he can't hear her raging heart or heavy breathing. Not when they are this close.

Slowly, as slow as a slug, she lowers her hand. Arm? No, if she put her hand on his arm, her elbow will probably bump against his ribs and wake him. Waist? Hell no. She closes her eyes irritatingly. Maybe she can play the sleeping card. Not as slow, her hand rubs against his ribcage and around to his back. There! If he wakes, she can just pretend she's sleeping.

"Do you ever sleep?" His mouth moves, but his eyes remain closed.

There's no movement, but the blonde's heartbeat drums against his chest and her breathing fastens its pace. Without opening his eyes, Soul realizes their sleeping arrangements had changed overnight. He moves his hands slightly to figure out where they ended up and freezes when it all clicks. Finally, Soul can't help but squint in front of him. Maka's staring at him- no eye contact, but staring towards his ear like she's waiting for it to fall off or something, eyes too wide.

He continues to watch her, waiting for her to stare at any body part closer to his face- his nose or cheeks works. As he waits, his eyes roam over her profile. Very girlish, he decides after a few seconds. Her cheeks round softly around her pudgy and small nose. Her chin's probably the sharpest curve she has. His eyes move upward where her lips are, wet and open slightly. Pink, he thinks when he leans in. Maka's gaze turns at the movement before she shuts her eyes completely.

She inhales quickly as his grip around her holds her tight, and his nose pushes against hers as he kisses her. And kisses her, and kisses her. At first, her jaw juts against his as she tenses and her lips fold inwards. He thinks that's a hint for him to back away or get a slap to the face. When he's about to move back, though, her hands grip at the end of shirt and pull. Like a breath of fresh air, he kisses her again, and he wraps his arms full around her waist until both of his hands meet his elbows.

When she pulls away the first time, he leans back in. The second, he starts kissing her throat. Third, he bites her neck.

"Soul," she gasps quietly.

He stops quickly, remembering how sharp his teeth are. Looking back at her neck, he sees the damage. He's punctured the skin, blood sliding towards her collarbone. "Shit. Sorry."

He backs away from her, but Maka's hands keep him from leaving. Her voice is higher than usual. "No, it's okay. It's fine."

Her hands pull him over her as her lips return to his. Feeling cool air in the places between them, Soul grasps her butt and pulls her up into his lap. She moans in his ear when his hardness presses against her. Her fingers clutch the fabric of his shirt and inches it upward until he pulls it the rest of the way off. Soul shivers as Maka's fingers run up his stomach and traces his scar. He presses his lips against her cheek, her jaw, her throat… Hands run through his hair as he runs his tongue against her throat. Her blood smears on his lips.

"Shouldn't we be leaving?" Maka whispers breathily. Soul stops and pulls away.

"Are we in a rush?" Soul asks, all playfulness aside. His fingers run smoothly over her arm. Right. She wants to go home, not stay here. He squeezes her arm before backing off the bed.

"Soul?"

He doesn't respond. What is he supposed to say? He grabs his t-shirt and throws it on. He faces away from Maka, not wanting his face to show his disappointment, and scratches his head. "Alright. Let's go."

Suddenly, the building trembles beneath his feet and a loud _boom_ comes from the distance. Before Maka can ask Soul what's going on, Tsubaki appears, scratches and dirt covering her face. Her breathing is ragged as she steps closer to the two. "We need your help."

Soul sees Maka scurry to a stand, flattening her pants, cheeks red. When Tsubaki sways, Soul rushes to her side before she can topple over and pass out. He holds her at the waist and pulls her other arm around his neck. "What's going on?"

They sit on the bed, waiting for Tsubaki to catch her breath. "The witches," she inhales, "made a new artificial demon. They're trying to dethrone Death."

"What?!" Soul growls, the scar on his chest burning at her words. His hand clutches at his shirt as he glares at the floor. "Why do you need us? Doesn't Lord Death have his own men?"

Tsubaki shakes her head, eyes closed. "Most of them were taken out with the blast."

"So, you want us to kill a shit-ton of witches and probably the most powerful demon in existence..."

She's crazy, he thinks. There's no way they can win. How many people are even fighting to keep Death in his chair? Probably no one. This is normal for the demon king's title to be given to someone more powerful... So why should he have to risk his life for someone else's title?

"No offense, Tsubaki, but we've got better things to worry about." Getting off the bed, Soul pulls Maka with him towards the black curtain, ready to jump out of there.

"Wait!" Tsubaki reaches out and grabs onto his sleeve. "If you do this, we can return Maka into her original form tonight!"

The room becomes quiet for a brief moment. They had only collected three soul fragments in the past week. Most of the time, they were lucky they didn't get major injuries. "How?" Soul asks. "How can you promise that?"

Tsubaki lets go of his sleeve and sits back. "Stein told us that the artificial demon previously was created with the help of soul fragments- and when I say that, I mean there were hundreds. This artificial demon should be created with the same amount of soul fragments, maybe even more."

Soul looks towards Maka, but her face is hidden by her hair as she's turned towards Tsubaki. His fingers clench only hard enough to catch her attention. When she does turn towards him, he can't read her. If he is to describe her as anything, he'd say she looked determined, but also something else.

"Let's do it, Soul," she says. Her voice is strong, but she turns back away from him. "I can go home..."

BlackStar runs up to them when Tsubaki uses her portals to bring them to Death Palace. "Tsubaki!"

His arms replace Soul's around the tall girl before he starts to lead them. Every building is damaged in some way, rubble littering the floors and injured citizens screaming in the streets. No one seems to pay attention to the citizens but Maka whose eyes dart crazily to anyone she sees. Her hand reaches out to hold onto someone in front of her when Soul grasps it with his. His hand squeezes with reassurance as they continue following BlackStar.

"Witches are crawling all over the place so keep your heads low," he warns in front of them. "There are still some guards fending off the witches and I also have my followers on their way to help. Our job is to protect Lord Death."

They continue walking until they reach the front of the tower. Witches crowd the area, but their attentions are on other demons. Claws, tails, magic, and swords are thrown around everywhere. The four rush forward, jumping and crouching to avoid attacks until they reach the doors. BlackStar swings his hand towards a witch on guard, a long knife in his palm. The witch falls over in agony, her breathing shallow, but still there.

The group steps over her, Maka a little hesitant of leaving someone injured, but once they step in, there's no one to worry about. Their footsteps echo in the high-ceiling castle with each step they take up the marble stairs. They finish two levels of stairs when they run into three people.

"Kid!" BlackStar smiles widely. "How'd you make it up here so fast?"

Liz and Patti wave towards Maka and Tsubaki as Kid kicks his skateboard up and into his arms. BlackStar awes at the small thing.

"I've got my ways of traveling," Kid smiles, obviously happy to have impressed BlackStar with the human object. "Thank you guys for offering a hand."

BlackStar scoffs. "What are you talking about? Your dad practically raised me. Plus, he helped us with Maka's situation."

Maka nods in agreement.

"Alright," Kid smiles. "Up to the tower then."

...

The group doesn't find Lord Death in the conference room, his bedroom, or in Kid's. "The roof," Kid says, "is the only other place he could be."

However, when they reach it, the roof is empty, nothing but black cement and bars around the edges. With irritation, Soul growls and presses his palms onto his forehead. He turns, mouth open and ready to yell at Kid for being a lousy leader, but when he looks back, his friends are no where in sight. Panicky, he looks around, but Soul stands alone.

He hears a snicker behind him, and turns again to find a cloaked figure several feet away.

"What the hell did you do to them?!" Soul screams and stomps over to them. He pulls the black fabric towards him, and, with the force of the pull, the hood falls back.

A pink smile spreads on the porcelain girl's face, causing Soul's insides to twist in horror and sorrow. Gold locks spill over her shoulders and onto Soul's loosening hands.

"No, Soul," Anya says, a smile still painted across her face. "The question is: What did you do to them?"

Everyone becomes still once they reach the roof. Maka thinks it's possible that they're just trying to come up with a new plan silently, but their faces are blank, eyes black. "Soul? Tsubaki?"

No answer. She tries again. "BlackStar? Are you guys okay?"

Again, no reply. Waving her hand in front of Soul, she waits for him to look back at her. _What's wrong with them?_

"Why aren't you affected?" A voice behind her scowls. Maka spins on her foot and cringes at the owner of the voice. His skin is pale grey and his black hair has black eyes that stare back at her. The eyes on his face, however, are red.

The bandages wrap around him like clothes, but they're tight around his body, making his bones visible.

"What do you m-mean?" She stutters. Her hands shake at her sides, but the rest of her is completely still as if she's in front of a deadly animal.

"I'll show you," his voice comes from behind her, his figure no longer in eyesight. Fingers snap behind her, and she sees Soul move next to her. She sighs in relief briefly before his hands jerk forward and wrap around her neck.

Choking, her hands scrape at his, trying to pry them off. He pulls her up until she can only touch the ground with her tiptoes. She hits the inside of his elbow, hoping he will let her go, but he doesn't even flinch.

"He can't see you," the voice behind her comes around until he's in view. His smile cuts through his face until it almost reaches his eyelashes. "He thinks you're someone else- the enemy. He's only trying to protect you."

He laughs quietly at first, but the volume escalates until it sounds forced. Soul's looking straight at her, but the way his eyes seem empty lets Maka know how very blind he is at the moment.

"Soul," she whimpers, hoping her voice can get through to him. "It's Maka... Soul!"

"Soul," Anya wheezes. "What are you doing?"

Her fingernails bite into the skin on his hand, and blood seeps out and into his palms.

"This is obviously an illusion of some sort." He replies honestly. His voice breaks and sweat runs down his face. Not sure in himself, he shuts his eyes closed and waits for Anya to vanish into thin air. "You aren't real."

Something circles around his arms like a snake, and he opens his eyes to crooked teeth and paled skin. Bandage-like fabric tightens around Soul's skin, squeezing his arms uncomfortably.

Maka gasps for air when Soul drops his hands to his side. Her hands rub at her throat, hoping to smooth out the hoarse feeling underneath her skin. Tears prick her eyes as her breaths feel like needles stabbing her throat.

She reaches for ideas to wake him up, but her mind is blank. A gasp from her right grabs her attention, and she turns to see BlackStar's arm buried into Tsubaki's side. Looking closer, Maka notices Tsubaki's hand at his shoulder, a throwing star in the space between his neck and shoulder. They're still for a second before the color in their eyes return and their bodies slump. Tsubaki spits blood before falling into BlackStar's arms. The two fall to the floor and Maka rushes to their sides.

"Maka?" BlackStar moans, back against the floor and Tsubaki tucked in his arm. Blood spills onto the floor at tremendous speed, and Maka hurries to remove the weapon and press her hand on the wound. The bleeding only seems to increase though.

"You're going to be alright," Maka says, her voice coming out stronger than she feels. BlackStar wraps his fingers around her wrist.

"C-check Tsu," he whispers, eyes low as if he's just waking up from a long nap. Maka nods and waits for his hand to replace the one she had on his wound before pulling Tsubaki off him and into Maka's lap.

Above Tsubaki's waist, the hilt of BlackStar's knife sticks out into the air, the blade buried deep into her gut.

"Shit," Maka gasps. BlackStar tries to push up to see what's going on, but Maka waves for him to lay back down. Surprisingly, BlackStar obeys her.

"So," Maka starts as she rips the bottom of her shirt. "How did you... wake up? Or come to...?"

"P... I could smell her blood," BlackStar pants. "I know... that smell. It's the scariest thing. Smelling her blood."

Maka wraps the torn fabric around Tsubaki's wound before looking around to find the other three. She doesn't see them, but with her attention away from everything else, her ears pick up Patti's giggles and gun shots. She looks over her shoulder. Death the Kid doesn't seem to have any major injuries, but he's panting so hard that Maka can hear him from a large distance away. Patti giggles as she holds down Soul's feet, Liz behind him holding his arms.

"Didn't work on them, huh?" BlackStar's voice cracks, but he laughs obnoxiously afterwards, calming Maka's nerves. He places his free arm over hers- the one that's putting pressure on Tsubaki's wound- and moves his head towards the group. "Don't worry. I can take care'a Tsu."

Maka nods, determined to give a hand, and stands, but when she looks around, she's not sure she can help anyone. Fighting Asura, Kid is thrown all over the place, cuts and bruises evidence of this. Liz and Patti still try to hold Soul down, but he's thrashing and yanking away.

_"I could smell her blood,"_ BlackStar's words resurface her mind. Blood...

Sprinting, Maka makes her way towards Soul. When she's a meter away from touching him, she jumps. Her legs and arms wrap around Soul and partially Liz before she slides one of her hands into Soul's mouth. He looks confused at first, even in his state of mind, but bites down hard regardless.

Hissing at the pain, Maka tightens her body around him as dizziness sways her. Black eyes turn to red as Soul's jaw slacks, letting Maka's hand go. He turns his head left to right to see everyone on top of him. "What's going on?"

When Patti and Liz back away, Maka slides off Soul and plants her feet on the floor warily, keeping her hand on his shoulder for support. Gun shots multiply in number as Liz and Patti run to Kid's aid.

"You were seeing an illusion," Maka answers, the memory of all of their blank faces coming to mind. "All of you were seeing an illusion."

Feeling something warm drip down her wrist, Maka turns her attention to her punctured hand. Fingers wrap gently around the back of her hand, Soul pulling it towards him to examine the wound. His voice cracks when he looks back up to her face. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she shrugs. It's true. The wound doesn't hurt as bad as when he first bit down. She nudges her head to the area where BlackStar and Tsubaki lay. "I'm more worried about them."

"Did I do that?" Soul bites his lip, looking at the two on the floor. Maka shakes her head furiously. Cold fingers on her skin stop her, though, Soul tracing the red marks on her neck. Her eyes close at the contact, body tensing as she remembers the feel of his fingers digging into her throat. "And this?"

Neither of them look at the other's face, Soul feeling guilt fill his gut, and Maka not wanting to see the hurt in his face. She pushes the memory of his hands around her neck below the surface of her mind. She's fine as long as she doesn't think about it. "It's nothing," she whispers.

Hands wrap around Maka's waist as Soul jumps, one of the artificial demon's bandages smashing into the area they stood previously. They fly in the air as Soul watches the fight below. "Is that the new demon?"

Maka nods as they begin to fall. Ready to feel her bones crush beneath her, she closes her eyes and waits for her body to meet the ground. A loud crunch reaches her ears, but she feels nothing, but her hair fall onto her shoulders. She opens her eyes, seeing the ground below Soul's feet in cracked pavement.

He drops her to her feet and starts walking towards the fight, waving his hand behind him to tell Maka to stay put.

When he's a few feet from the demon, Kid and the girls stop shooting, and the demon's bandages shimmy through the air like snakes towards him. Showing off his canines, Soul smiles and raises his hand towards the demon. Slowly, he curls his fingers inward until they become a fist.

The demon begins to choke, blood dripping out of its nose as its hands grab the fabric above its chest. If this move works, the fight against it should be over as quickly as it was when he fought the demon in the human world about a week ago. Soul focuses on the sound of the demon's increasing heart rate when something hits his head hard.

The blow knocks him off his feet, ruining the concentration it takes for the technique he was using. More bandages start flying at him when the gunshots start again. Every bandage coming his way gets shot down long enough for him to get on his feet.

As Kid and the girls shoot, Soul tries his heart-clenching technique again, but the demon moves too quick for him to get ahold of him. Suddenly, a high voice calls for him in horror. He turns to Maka, recognizing her voice instantly, and finds her crawling towards him on the floor, her legs no longer visible.

"Shit!" He sprints and drops onto his knees next to her. Her hands find his frantically and she pulls them towards his mouth for him to break the skin. He shakes his head. "I can't!"

Her eyebrows draw together. "Soul! I'm going to disappear if you don't!"

Eyes shut, he shakes his head again. "If I give you blood, you might turn!"

He holds her hand to his chest, bowing his head in defeat. She would have to wait for this fight to be over if she wants to return to her human self. However, it didn't seem like she has that much time. Her thighs begin to fade as they sit there.

With her free hand, Maka brushes the dirt from his cheek. A smile graces her face that makes Soul choke.

"I don't want this anyway," she explains. "I don't want to forget about all of you guys. I want to stay."

He exhales in disbelief and irritation. "You're always talking about home, Maka! Don't give up on your goal!"

"It's not mine," she spits. "It _was_, but it hasn't been for awhile now. It's _your _goal! You just want me out of your hair."

Growling, Soul quickly brings his hand to his mouth and slices his palm against his teeth. He covers her mouth, not letting a drop of blood go to waste. Watching the three fighting off the demon, he realizes that they aren't a bad shot, but that the bullets don't affect the demon. They only keep his bandages from coming closer. He looks back down at Maka.

"I thought that's what you wanted. I made it my goal because that's what I do for the people I care for." The look Maka gives him makes his face burn. How embarrassing… "Now stop thinking like an idiot and drink what you need."

Her eyes roll as she brings his hand closer. Soul focuses on her legs that begin to solidify again. When her ankles start to regenerate, something high pitched catches his ears, and he turns his head towards it. At first, he sees nothing, but when it's too late, he notices the air bend like some invisible weapon.

The impact throws him forward into the air, Maka tucked into his chest, and he bounces hard into the floor several times until his body stops moving. With Maka on top of him, he groans at the pressure against his head.

Maka stirs. Placing her hands on the floor under Soul, she pushes herself up, trying to figure out what had happened. She looks down at the body under her and gasps. Red spills through Soul's hair and down into one of his eyes before running into his ear.

"No, no, no," she cries, trying to wipe the blood out of his eye. Her vision blurs as tears fall onto Soul's face. Soul peeks at her with his other eye, realizing that she isn't injured, and smiles faintly.

"Maka," he whispers, his voice cracking. "Run."

With that his eyes close. Maka throws her head up to ask for help from anyone, but not even Liz, Patti, or Kid are standing anymore. She's all alone.

The demon appears in front of her in a second, hovering over her. Maka clenches her jaw and screams in anger before throwing a punch at one of his legs. A crack echoes in her ears as his leg snaps in half just below his knee.

The demon falls back onto the floor, hissing in pain. Raising her thrown fist to her eyes, she stares in awe at her strength. Her body warms with new energy, and she feels like she can run for miles. Iron fills her nose when she inhales, and when she focuses, she can see BlackStar's chest moving steadily from here.

Getting off of Soul carefully, Maka walks towards the demon. Her arms flex from the new amount of strength she feels in her bones as courage fills her heart.

"What's your name?" she asks, standing above the demon. Although he's below her, the demon smiles in interest.

"Asura."

Maka cracks her knuckles before throwing her fist towards him. He vanishes just as Maka's fist makes contact with the concrete. The floor caves at her touch, and a smiles spreads across Maka's cheeks at the lack of pain.

"Maka Albarn," she yells for him to hear. He stands a ways away from her. "For hurting my friends, I'm going to finish you. I promise!"

Her foot sinks into the concrete before she sends herself flying towards him.

"Alright, _Maka_," he giggles maniacally when she's mere inches from him. "Finish me."

Her fist flies forward, but before her fist can come into contact with his face, bandages wrap around her arm and legs.

They throw her up, shooting her into the air several stories, before Asura jumps and shoots towards her with tremendous speed. Everyone else shrinks to the size of ants from where they fly. Maka begins to slow, but she doesn't have the chance to stop for even a split second.

She hears a gasp, and she looks down at her stomach. Asura's hand flexes in the air, his arm penetrated into Maka's gut. Realizing then that the gasp was from her, everything becomes silent but her increasing heart rate. He cackles as she spits up blood. However, when he tries to pull his arm out, Maka digs her fingers into his pale skin and pulls his hand forward to keep him there. She readies her free hand, flat and high in the air.

With one swift swing, Maka's hand slices through Asura's neck. His head falls away, spraying her face in blood as she continues to fall. His body vanishes beneath her and the sky starts to glow with hundreds of soul fragments floating in the air. _Pretty_, Maka thinks as time seems to slow down and her vision begins to blur. Thinking about her friends below, she prays that they'll be alright until someone finds them when she finally loses consciousness.

Rain soaks through Spirit's suit, whimpers escaping the girls next to him. Kim and Jacqueline cry harder when the casket lowers into the hole in the ground. There isn't even a body in the casket. It had been months since anyone had seen his daughter, so by now, it is just known to everyone.

Spirit shakes his head. He knows that, although Maka is no longer here, she still exists. The idea of his daughter being a demon now… he isn't sure if that's any better than being actually dead. He bites his bottom lip when everyone passes him and gives their condolences. When he's finally alone, he lets out a sob.

He had tried so hard to keep her away from the other side. But now she's gone. There's no way of her coming home. A hand rubs his back, pulling him out of his thoughts. He looks up and his eyes widen at his daughter's face beside him. Her face is covered in shadows from the black hat on her head, a small black dress framing her figure perfectly. "Maka!"

The blonde yelps as her father hugs her suddenly. Warm tears spill onto her neck, and she pats his back. Her cheeks become wet as well as she breathes in this moment. "Hey, Papa."

"I've been so worried," he sighs and pulls away. His hands wrap around her just above the elbow as he smiles down at her. "Your mom... told me where you were."

Just then, her father looks up and finds Soul leaning on a tree a few feet away, staring right back at them. He points at him before moving his index finger to signal him over. When Soul does walk over, his head is low as if he's ready for a long lecture. Spirit's hand clamps down on his shoulder before the man says, "Take care of her."

Soul looks up, eyes wide and jaw slack, and nods slowly. Spirit pats his shoulder twice before returning his attention to his daughter. The wind blows Maka's loose, blonde hair back, and her father sees his wife for a split second.

A much bigger smile appears on Spirit's face. "I better see you again."

Maka's eyes widen before she giggles. "You will. I promise."


End file.
